Feli und das Tier
by TheAngryGermanandCanaDERP
Summary: Ludwig's temper has gotten him into quite a mess this time. Due to a few misplaced words and an outburst of anger, Ludwig is transformed into a monster. Half man, half wolf, he is doomed to stay as such unless he can get a woman to love him, regardless of his looks and attitude. Will Ludwig manage to reform his attitude, or will he be a beast for the rest of his life? Fem!Italy!
1. Prologue

**_Hey everyone! The Angry German and CanaDERP here! We hope you enjoy our first story (on this account)! The prologue is fairly short, but all chapters following it will be noticeably longer!_**

**_Well, thank you again for stopping by, and please review to let us know if you like it so far!_**

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Ludwig was a handsome young man of just 18 years when his life was forever changed. For better or worse, no one could truly tell at the time; however, to Ludwig, it most definitely seemed worse.

Before our story began, it seems only fitting to tell of the background and surroundings of this young man. Ludwig was a nobleman, with a large mansion on the outskirts of a small village. He did not flaunt his money or power; no, that was not his problem. His problem was his temper. It was this that ultimately got him into his current predicament.

Though surrounded by wealth, Ludwig did not keep many servants around for his own use. In fact, he had servants for quite an honorable purpose. The economy in the village was very poor, so he offered jobs to those who had no work, and thus much of the staff was comprised of women whose families could not make ends meet. His wealth allowed him more leisure time than most, and so he spent most of his time reading or sparring with one of his closest friends and his most loyal servant, Gilbert.

Only a handful of the staff in his home was there for any reason other than money. Roderich, another close friend of his—however less infuriating than Gilbert, due to being older and more mature—was among his live-in staff. At this time, which takes place 7 years before our main story, Roderich is 21, and Gilbert is 14—which no doubt accounts for his all-over obnoxiousness. These two tend to butt heads often, which is where yet another of Ludwig's servants comes in. Elizabeta, at this time 17, just one year younger than Ludwig himself, has won the hearts of these two young men.

The infatuation that Roderich and Gilbert had for Eliza has gone on since the day they were first introduced, and was something that Ludwig could not understand. Even his trusted friend and advisor, Valdemar, a man much older than himself, could not explain it to him. "You have to learn it for yourself, for it cannot be taught," he'd said.

One of the few things that this group, living together in the mansion of their master and friend, had in common was their accents. They all had a distinct German accent that was unmistakable for anything else. These persons all met by happenstance, as they were all German refugees in a town that had no German influence at the time. Due to this, and the fact that Ludwig already had money and property before the others arrived, the group of Germanic immigrants lived together, under circumstances that suited each well.

As for the problem that Ludwig faced, these seven years before the actual story begins, as aforementioned, Ludwig had a temper. During an annual event held in his mansion, an outsider named Dragomir came to the village, and thus stayed in the mansion, even after the rest of the guests had left. Ludwig kept company with the man for several hours, not knowing what he was really there for. When asked a rather pointed question, Ludwig lost his temper with the man, and his fate was thereby changed forever. As it turned out, the man was quite adept at magic, and found Ludwig's wealth and good looks as a cause of jealousy, but decided he would only allow his jealousy to act for him if Ludwig's personality proved unsatisfactory to him.

When his temper overcame him, Dragomir took the opportunity to make Ludwig's looks match his temper. In Dragomir's eyes, Ludwig's temper matched a wolf, and decided that looking like one would suit him well. To this effect, his face was elongated to imply the muzzle of a wolf, his ears translated to a higher point on his head, his posture was changed to that of a wolf standing on hind legs. He was given a small covering of fur over most of his body, and a tail, along with claws, and from the knees down, his legs were completely those of a wolf's.

The process of being transformed so hideously was quite painful, and left Ludwig unconscious in his chambers for several hours. When he awoke, Dragomir was long gone, and Valdemar was knocking at his door. Ludwig had no idea what had happened, but when he spoke, he noticed his voice was more deep and gravelly than it had been before. Due to the sound of his voice, Valdemar assumed Ludwig was sick, and left him alone, however, he didn't realize what had happened until he left his room, and a servant from the village saw him. Letting out a shrill cry of fear and dropping the tray she had been carrying, she ran to tell the other servants about the monster that resembled their master so much, and all but the Germanic group of Ludwig's friends stayed to see what had happened to him.

Though Ludwig's friends stayed with him in his mansion, the rest of the village was in a panic. The servants told everyone that the monster in the mansion would eat them if they didn't do something, and they resolved to draw names of 18 to 25 year olds in the village.

Being thus transformed, Ludwig had the ability to witness anything through the eyes of wolves, as long as they were nearby, and he observed what the villagers were doing. Though perturbed about the whole situation, he knew he couldn't let the villagers think that they could overtake him, and opted instead to allow them to fear him, if it would keep him alive long enough to break his curse.

On the subject of the curse itself, upon awakening, and after frightening his whole staff off the premises unintentionally, Ludwig discovered a note left on his nightstand, scribed by Dragomir himself. This note read, "_You have exactly ten years to break your curse, you not-so-pretty little rich boy. If you can get any woman to love you, despite your temper and looks to match, and love her equally, you will be human and beautiful once again. Good luck with that._

_~Dragomir_."

Beside the signed name, there was a symbol, one that Ludwig knew to be the symbol of the magic guild, meaning that the man was practiced in magic more than Ludwig could have possibly imagined. The next day, a young man, about the same age as Ludwig, was brought into the gates of his mansion, his arms tied behind his back and left there for the beast inside to feast upon. It was the beginning of a long line of 'sacrifices' that would be sent to him every year from then on.

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**Angry German: Alright, this is the first time I did a whole chapter without CanaDERP's help (even if it is just a prologue) but I poured my skills into making this so you will want to read more. For future reference, all chapters that focus on Ludwig or are from Ludwig's point of view will be written by me, whereas all the chapters that concern Feli and/or are from Feli's point of view will be written by CanaDERP. Also, we did not use Google Translate to figure out how to say Feli and the Beast in German; I actually know how to say that. Don't ask why.**

_CanaDERP: Thanks for reading our fic! :3 If you're one of our previous readers, then you should know that we _will_ be finishing _Sorriso, mi Liebling_. However, this AU idea grabbed hold of us and just wouldn't let go! XD I hope you'll stay with us for the rest of this fic! Updates should be at least once a week, though we do have a habit of updating every day, and then not updating for a couple of weeks… O/O_

__**Angry German: Well, if you would stop randomly distracting me with Vocaloid music and Hetalia MMD videos, maybe we wouldn't have that problem, huh, CanaDERP?!**

****_CanaDERP: *laughs* Whatever, AG! I know you love them~! Especially those ones with Sexy Germany in them...and, of course, you absolutely _adored _HetaOni, didn't you?_

__**Angry German: HOLY F**K, NO, NOT STEVE, NOT STEVE, I WILL F**KING KILL YOU, CANADERP! *brandishes gun***

****_CanaDERP: *takes gun and eats it* Such language, AG! Really now, what if there are children reading? *turns to reader* Well, I tink that's a long enough Author's Note for now, don't you, AG? *dodges missiles*_

__**Angry German: Children shouldn't be allowed on . NOW REGURGITATE MY GUN! *shoves hand down her throat* WORTHLESS SCHLAMPE!**


	2. Chapter 1

_CanaDERP: Thanks much for the favorites and follows we've received so far! You guys are great! X3 We really hope you enjoy Chapter One! Please leave a review when you're done! :3_

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It is now seven years after the curse was put on Ludwig. It is the day that a young person from the village is chosen as a "sacrifice" for him, though little did they know that all he did with them was keep them in the mansion as servants. He had to preserve the fear that the townspeople felt for him, because he knew they would surely kill him if they didn't fear that he may kill them first.

Valdemar was lecturing Ludwig, who was in turn tuning out everything he said. His thoughts wandered to this and that, watching Valdemar's mouth as he talked and thinking that he looked sort of like his late father. When the older man stopped rambling and stared Ludwig in the eyes, he finally snapped out of his random thoughts.

"Ludvig, you only have zhree years until you're doomed to stay like zhis forever! If you don't even try to reform your attitude, you might as vell give up hope now! But I von't be giving up on you so easily, und you better start shaping up!" His glare was enough to make Ludwig shudder, and it took a lot to get even that much of a reaction out of him anymore.

"You're not even listening to me, are you?" Valdemar let out an exasperated sigh, and grabbed one of Ludwig's ears. "Listen, Ludvig, zhis insolent attitude of yours has to stop! I stayed vizh you zhese past seven years because I had hope for you to become human again! I have zhe feeling zhat you don't even care anymore!" His glare hardened.

Ludwig murmured, gazing out a window, seeing things that were not there, "Nein, I haven't given up… But I feel defeated…" He saw through the eyes of a nearby wolf, hunting an elk with his pack, and it got his adrenaline pumping.

Being so transformed, Ludwig had a few instincts that were not normal for humans, such as the desire to hunt, and to kill. Valdemar kept his killing to animals only, however, so no matter how much any of the servants angered him, he wouldn't allow his aggression to act for him in place of human reasoning.

Through the years, the members of the village council, who had been the ones to decide on the sacrificing, designated a place to drop off the sacrifices where they could not escape, but where the guards would not have to risk their lives going near the mansion. The spot was a small crowd of trees, where they put a cage, and left the key for the beast, just out of reach of any prisoner inside.

In order to keep up the charade, Roderich, who was the one to go and get the sacrifices every year, would leave a piece of blood stained cloth near the cage after he collected them. In order to protect Ludwig, they had to keep up his image as a terrifying, man-eating monster, no matter how far from the truth that was.

However, Ludwig's clothes were quite often stained with blood, as he cared very little for appearances anymore, and he did not frequently eat at the mansion. He habitually hunted with the wolves that wandered the woods near the mansion, and typically didn't change his clothes for days afterward, when one of his friends would force him to.

"And one more thing," Valdemar added as he was about to leave, "Please change your clothes and bathe today; preferably before our new arrival gets here." On that note, Valdemar left the Master's chambers, leaving Ludwig to mumble to himself about how he didn't think there was anything wrong with his clothes or his cleanliness. As he was thinking this, a bit of his human side activated: _"You _are_ filthy. If you were human, you would be disgusted with yourself right now. But you're not human… You're a MONSTER." _ He shook these thoughts away, and looked down at his clothes. "Definitely need a bath…" he murmured.

After getting all the blood and dirt out of his fur, Ludwig looked in his wardrobe. Elizabeta made clothes for him that fit his beastly body, but he hardly ever wore them. They were too nice for him; too nice for a _monster_. Even so, he put them on, and looked in the mirror, then away quickly.

"Ughh… Vhy did I even look?" shuddering, he scratched behind his left ear. With a bit of hesitation, he looked in the mirror again, to look at his own eyes. _"Still blue…" _At least that hadn't changed; his eyes were the only thing that reminded him that he was still human underneath, besides the random moments when his human conscience would kick in. It always seemed to kick in at the worst times, just to make him feel terrible.

Ludwig often found his human conscience to surface right after he beat Gilbert to a pulp, telling him that he was a monster. That's all his conscience ever seemed to tell him; what he already knew fully well. He pounded the wall with his fist. What would be different about this year? The village would send another young man as a sacrifice, and it wouldn't get him any closer to being his old self again.

Gilbert knocked on the door now, "Hey, Luddy, you alright? Did you trip over your own tail again? Kesesesese!" He opened the door. "GILBERT, GO AVAY, I DON'T VANT TO PUT UP VIZH YOU RIGHT NOW!" Ludwig yelled at him, but he didn't throw anything at him like he usually did. Gilbert advanced into his room. "Awh, don't be like zhat, Luddy! At least you don't smell bad today!" He barked out a laugh, and Ludwig took a swing at him, which he barely managed to dodge.

Slumping into a chair, Ludwig hid his face in his hands. "_Bitte_… Just… go avay." He mumbled through his palms. Gilbert stayed and watched Ludwig for a few minutes before breaking the silence, "Vhat has you so down today? It's not like zhis year is much different zhan every ozher year!"

Ludwig's head snapped up to glare at his friend. "Zhat's zhe point! It von't be any different! I von't break zhe curse, und I vill be stuck like zhis for zhe rest of my life… You all might as vell just leave und let me die alone…"

For a moment, Gilbert couldn't bring himself to breathe. Was Ludwig really giving up? "Hey now, don't talk like zhat! I von't let you give up until you really ARE doomed!" He stood beside his friend, patting his back reassuringly, not that it helped. His gesture was in vain, especially after that tactless comment. Grinning again, he added, "You still have zhree years! Zhat's a pretty long time! You need to make zhe most of it und really try! I zhink vhat you need to vork on most is taking a bath more often…"

Ludwig didn't stir; he sat resolute in his chair, staring at the floor between his fingers. Finally, he sighed, "Just go already…" and slumped further into his seat. "Alright, but zhe villagers vill be choosing a 'sacrifice' soon now." He turned to leave, paused to look at his friend from over his shoulder, then continued out the door.

He sighed, and stood up, "Maybe it vould be better if zhey vould just come as a mob und kill me… Get it over vizh…" Ludwig glimpsed out the window. He saw Roderich leaving, and he wouldn't have much time before the new arrival was brought in to him. He drew the curtains now, and blew out all the candles, leaving him in complete darkness.

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Felicia was an auburn-haired young woman of 21, who lived with her twin sister Lovina and their father Julius. Their family had not lived in the village long, only about three years, and this was the third time that Felicia and Lovina would have to enter their names in the drawing for a sacrifice. Since a girl had never been chosen as the sacrifice, she was doubtful that one would be chosen this year either.

Lovina, the older of the twins, was angry as usual. "Why do we all have to go to this stupid thing?! If they choose me, I'll kill them! I'm not going to be food for anything!" She reluctantly finished brushing her hair and went to see if her sister was ready. "Feli, you better be ready by now because I'm not waiting for you any longer!" Pushing open the door to her sister's room, Lovi saw that Feli wasn't even in there. "Crap, so I'm the one that's running late…"

Feli was waiting in the main hall of the house, and hugged her sister around her shoulders. "LOVI!"

"Get off of me, damnit!" Lovina pushed her sister away. "Let's just get this over with, huh?" She forced her way out the door and Felicia followed after her cheerfully, humming to herself. The two of them had put their names in the drawing the day before, just as all the other villagers between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one had, and today was the day someone's name would be taken from the box, and that person would be sacrificed.

Though she knew full well that this business was not a pleasant one, Feli thought that if it saved everybody else in the village for a year, then sacrificing somebody was worth it. She didn't exactly approve of it, but her innocent mind knew no other way to resolve the problem the villagers faced. She also knew that any idea she could come up with would just end up being laughed at.

The only person she knew wouldn't laugh at her was Francis. She didn't really like him, but he had asked her to marry him several times. He had even gone as far as to ask her father to make her marry him. Of course, he had said no, and that Feli would have to want to marry him first, but that still didn't shake him off. At least he never made fun of her ideas; she'd tried to come up with a better way to get rid of the beast and keep everybody safe, and the only one who didn't laugh at her was Francis.

Lovi had a similar situation going on with one of Francis's friends, Antonio. Antonio sold fruit—or at least, that's what he said they were, but nobody else actually believed that tomatoes were a fruit except him—and he was absolutely obsessed with Lovina. He wasn't as bad as Francis at least, since he had never asked to marry her; he just fawned over her excessively. Felicia watched them curiously, but never quite understood why her sister always punched Antonio in the stomach whenever he said hi to her…

"Why, _bonjour, mon am!,_" A voice called out to Feli from behind. She turned around to see Francis standing behind her, smiling. Her naturally cheerful disposition forced her to smile back at him, no matter how much she wished he would just leave her alone. "_B-buongiorno_, Francis!" He had on the seductive grin he wore when he wanted something. "So, have you thought about my offer?" He put an arm about her waist, and she pulled away, taking hold of her sister's arm.

Immediately, Lovina took the hint and promptly took a swing at Francis's pretty-boy face. "Get away from my sister, you bastard! She's told you no already, why can't you get the message?!" Though her swing missed, he definitely got the message… for now. He would be back—he always did, though he had given up for the time being.

Everybody was gathered in the village center, and the village council was on the scaffold to draw the name of the year's sacrifice. When the headman felt that everybody was in attendance who was necessary, he began his This-is-Why-One-of-You-Young-People-Must-Die speech, which he hadn't changed at all in the last six years, so nobody paid attention to it anymore.

The village was apprehensive, but everybody stood on their toes as the headman pulled the name from the drawing box. The guards were surrounding the group, in case the chosen sacrifice tried to get away. A slip of paper was pulled out of the small, dented tin box, and the name was read aloud as the crowd waited with bated breath.

There was a pause, and then, "Felicia Vargas," he called, glancing up at the crowd. Wait, that couldn't be right. He hadn't just said Feli's name, had he? A girl had never been chosen, and it certainly wouldn't be her to be the first one! Felicia panicked, and looked at her sister and father, who were also in a panic. Her sister protested, and Francis looked like he was about to volunteer to take her place, but then slunk back into the crowd. Guards took hold of Feli's arms, and being so shocked, Felicia did nothing to resist.

"YOU CAN'T TAKE MY SISTER, YOU BASTARDS!" Lovina was kicking, biting, punching, screaming; it wasn't long before more guards interfered, holding her back, while she watched her sister being taken away. Felicia saw her father crying as they dragged her away from the crowd, tying her hands behind her back, and then escorting her from the village.

It wasn't until Feli was locked in the cage, just within sight of the mansion, that she realized what was going to happen to her. "…I'm going to die…." Tears poured from her eyes, but the guards simply walked away, refusing to even bid her a final farewell.

Felicia was left alone in the cage, her arms still bound behind her. She panicked inwardly, and wondered how much longer she had left to live. She hadn't even been able to say goodbye to her family…

It wasn't long before a man in a blue overcoat approached the cage. He looked shocked when he saw her, as did she, when she saw him. Was this the terrifying monster she'd been sacrificed to? This didn't make any sense!

When he spoke, she noticed that he had an accent.

"You're… not vhat I expected. You're… a girl!" The way he said it made it seem like he had never seen a girl before, as though they were only a myth.

"Umm… What's going on? What are you doing here?" she asked him. She had expecting a monster, and he certainly wasn't one.

He fumbled with the key then, opening the door with a creak. "Hm? Oh, I'm here to take you into zhe mansion. I assure you, zhe Master von't eat you." He smiled, and opened the cage for her, helping her out, but not untying her hands.

"Vell, I guess it doesn't matter if you're a girl, hm? It von't make a huge difference… I suppose… Hmmm…." He became lost in his thoughts rather quickly, but Felicia followed him anyway.

"Um, so vhat is your name, anyway?" Felicia didn't think he was telling the truth; why would the village need to send a sacrifice if the person they sent wasn't going to be killed?

It took him a moment to realize that she was talking to him. "Vhat? Oh, it's Roderich." And just like that, he was lost in his thoughts again.

The walk from the edge of the forest to the mansion was a short one, and Felicia found herself becoming more and more nervous with every step. Was he telling the truth? Was the monster that he worked for really not going to eat her?

It wasn't long before Roderich was going through the gate in front of the large building, with Feli following close behind. She knew she didn't want to enter those doors, but it wasn't as though she had much of a choice in the matter. Her hands were still bound together tightly, and she couldn't escape if she tried.

Upon entering, Felicia noticed the mansion was uncomfortably quiet, and dark. Most of the curtains were drawn, and there were very few candles lit. Roderich led Felicia up the main stairs and to the right. At the end of the hall was a large door, obviously the master bedroom; the chambers where the infamous beast would undoubtedly be holed up.

"Vait here a moment vhile I get Valdemar. It's probably a bit unsafe to let you in zhere vizh him if Valdemar's not in zhere; he keeps zhe Master calm."

He was about to turn away and leave, but a low voice came from within the chambers, "Nein, ve'll get zhis over vith now…" Roderich obliged, and opened the doors. Felicia felt a rush of cold air, and entered the completely dark room.

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**Angry German: I wrote this completely by myself, yet again, and CanaDERP sat back while I sent her paragraph after paragraph, and she squealed like a little girl.**

_CanaDERP: I HAVE A COMPLETELY LEGITIMATE RESON WHY I DIDN'T DO WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO! D8 I was…well, er, I…Writer's Block? *grins sheepishly* Though I did edit it a bit…. And yes, I squealed like a little girl on multiple occasions…*sigh* I'm such a fangirl. XD_

**Angry German: See? I write these just to get a reaction from her. "THE FEELS" she says.**

_CanaDERP: I blame Tumblr. X3 *turns to reader* Anyway, I'm sure you all know what will happen next. FELI WILL BE DEVOURED BY LUDWIG AND THUS WILL END THIS BEAUTIFUL, TRAGIC TALE. Am I right?_

**Angry German: You're a moron. I don't write tragedies. We do not fly a black flag over this theater.**

_CanaDERP: *laughs* You're absolutely right. 8D We attempt to avoid tragedies as often as possible…but that doesn't mean there won't be any tragedies or depressing spots in this! Oh, no! *evil glint* …Anyway, we better wrap this up soon. Any parting words, AG?_

**Angry German: *turns into France, blows a kiss at the readers* Keep reading, my lovelies.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Angry German: *walks in as France, turns to the reader* I worked all day to get zis done for you, my lovelies! *blows kiss, then turns back into Germany* Vhat just happened?**

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Roderich's voice could be heard from within the chambers. Ludwig sighed, _I don't need him around, it's not like I've ever hurt anybody before… _"Nein, ve'll get zhis over vith now," He called through the door. _I don't need him nagging me about every single thing I do wrong. _The doors were flung open, and all Ludwig could see was the silhouette of the new'sacrifice'. The door closed, and they were left in the dark room together

Using what little magic he knew—which he had learned from Valdemar during his time as a beast—Ludwig lit the candles of a candelabrum that sat on a table near his guest from across the room. Though still being in the darkness, Ludwig could now see the person whom Roderich had led into his chambers, and gasped.

"You…. You're a girl…" his voice was a whisper, barely audible, but it reached the ears of the young woman across the room from him regardless. "Uh… yeah… I know I'm the first girl to be chosen… You're not going to eat me, right? I mean, that's what Roderich said, but you—" She looked quite panicked, but at the last remark, Ludwig couldn't help but laugh. Every year, the person that was brought to him asked the same question—for good reason, of course, but still.

"Nein, I have no intention of eating you. I've never eaten somebody before, und I have no reason to start now." He suddenly felt quite nervous. He hadn't spoken to a girl other than Elizabeta in over seven years. This could be his chance. He fumbled over his words now. "You…er... Vell, I've never killed any of zhe… 'sacrifices' zhat zhe village has sent here… Zhey all just vork here as servants."

She looked confused now. "If they aren't dead… why don't you let them go back to the village?" Ludwig was at a bit of a loss for words. _He_ knew why he didn't let them go, but telling _her_... it seemed selfish now. But, he did it to protect his own life; didn't that mean something? Of course, why would this girl care about the life of a monster like him? _You took her from her family. You practically kidnapped her, because you wanted to protect yourself. Why would she care about your life at all?_

He walked to the window now, and drew the curtains, and let her see what he looked like. This, he knew, would be sufficient to cause her to forget her question. "You…. You really _are_ a monster…" She sank down to her knees, gaping at him all the while. His brow furrowed.

"Please, get up…" He approached her carefully, slowly, and she got up with a start, and he stopped. "…Turn around." Her eyes widened; she clearly did not believe that he wasn't going to kill her, no matter what he said. Getting impatient, he approached her again.

"Okay, okay, I'll do what you say!" She was practically sobbing now, and turned her back to him. There was a loud tearing sound; the sound of ropes being cut, and the girl's hands were free. When she turned around, Ludwig was sitting in a chair by the window, staring outside, his face turned away from her.

"Oh… Thank you…" She rubbed her wrists, and Ludwig pulled on a rope beside a second door in the room. Promptly, Roderich entered the room, "Vhat do you require, sir?" Without turning to face his servant, Ludwig replied, "Zhe new arrival…she'll vork in zhe kitchen," and he shooed him away with a quick wave of his hand. "Now, leave me." With a second motion of his hand, a gust of wind pushed the both of them out the door, which slammed shut behind them.

"Vell, zhat vasn't nice… Hmph!" Roderich turned to the girl. "So, vhat's your name, anyvay? I should at least know vhat you call you." She straightened now, turning to face him as well.

"Uh, it's Felicia… But you can call me Feli." She tried her best to smile. "So… I'll be working in the kitchen? That's what your master said… I _do _like cooking…"

"Just call him Ludvig. Zhat's his name, und he doesn't particularly care vhich you call him." Roderich began walking away. "I'll show you vhere you'll be sleeping, und zhen I'll show you vhere zhe kitchen is." After taking a quick glance back at the door, Felicia followed him.

Valdemar entered the chambers from the door behind Ludwig, but he just continued staring out the window.

"Vell, vell, zhis year it's a girl, is it? Maybe all hope is not lost, hm?" Valdemar's minor attempt at consolation was wasted on him, however, for Ludwig was having another inward battle with himself.

_You are stuck like this forever! Don't even start thinking that she could ever love you. You're a monster, and you will stay a monster._

** Embrace it. You could learn to love it, if you would just let it free. Let your thirst for blood be slaked. You don't need love, not when you have something better.**

_You're going to have to work a lot harder if you want to even TRY to win her affections. But really, what makes you think you could get her to care about you?_

**Forget about love, just kill her. You know you want to taste that sweet flesh. You can SMELL it.**

A hand touched Ludwig's shoulder, and he turned about suddenly, eyes blazing, ready to kill.

"Ludvig? Are you alright?" Valdemar looked concerned, but Ludwig's eyes went back to normal. He turned back to the window, "Ja… I'm fine."

"If you're sure…" He was about to take his leave, but he faced the young man again. "Get her used to your presence, it'll make zhings easier. You have zhree years left, don't vaste zhem." And with that, he left, and the internal battle continued.

_"He seems to think there's hope for you. You better hope he's right. The other one is gaining more power._

** You don't understand. You can live just fine the way you are. It's not a curse, it's a gift. Freedom from humanity itself. You know you want it.**

_ If you give in to it, you might as well just die now. You need to shape up quick if you're going to stand a chance._

Ludwig held his head in his hands. "Just go avay… go avay… Somebody… help me…" He sobbed silently.

_Don't think it goes away so easily. It won't give up, it'll keep fighting. But I'm still here. Don't forget that._

When Ludwig next looked up, the sun was gone, and the room was dark. Standing, Ludwig lit the candelabra closest to him, and left his room. The mansion was silent, and dark, but he knew exactly where to go. Valdemar's room was close to his own, a plan designed by him after his transformation, after it started to consume this thoughts. He stopped at the door down the hallway, to the right of his room.

He didn't bother knocking; he opened the door and entered. The older man was at his desk, reading, and didn't notice-or didn't care-about the unexpected guest that had just arrived in his chambers.

"It's bothering you again, huh?" Valdemar saw Ludwig nod from the corner of his eye.

"It's been getting vorse… Und it only happens vhen you're alone." Again, Ludwig nodded. "I don't know vhat I can do for you. My suggestion is to keep from isolating yourself so much." Ludwig groaned. "I'm sorry, but zhat's about all you can do. I can't reverse this, or anyzhing zhat comes as a byproduct of it. I'm sorry, Ludvig, I've done everyzhing I know how to. I can help little bits, but I can't make a huge difference now. You vill have to do it on your own for zhe most part."

Sighing, Ludwig took a seat beside his mentor, advisor, and friend. "I don't vant to be alone. It terrifies me. I can't even describe it…" He stared at the floor.

Valdemar closed his book, and turned to Ludwig. "I can't get rid of it, but I can at least help you sleep." He searched a drawer of his desk, and pulled out a box. He opened it, the smell reached Ludwig's nose quickly, and he grimaced. Still, Valdemar rummaged through it and pulled out a small bag.

"Go brew zhis tea. It'll put you out quickly, und it von't have much time to bozher you." He handed him the teabag, and Ludwig took it, albeit reluctantly.

"Do I really have to drink it? I hate tea, und you know it." He looked at the bag with disgust.

"Vell, you could just listen to it all night and hope you don't go insane." Ludwig immediately got up and left, taking the candelabra, and stalked toward the kitchen.

* * *

After having been led to the kitchen, Felicia wondered if they ever ate in the place. It was spotless, as though it was never used. There was only one other person in the kitchen, a young woman, about her age, who was cleaning.

_Why would she need to clean a kitchen that's already clean? _She approached the young woman, and spoke in a small voice, "E-excuse me…?"

The woman turned around, taken aback at seeing another female in the mansion. "You… You can't be zhe person zhe village sent!" Roderich entered the kitchen then, "Ja, Elizabeta, she is. I alvays zhought zhey just chose males from the village, but apparently not." Feli saw that he was quite noticeably avoiding making eye contact with the other woman. Elizabeta sighed.

"I suppose… if it keeps Ludvig safe anozher year…" Wait, Ludwig? Why would he need protecting? Felicia voiced her thoughts.

"But wait… Why would… _he_… need to be protected? He's…" She felt like she should just keep her mouth shut.

"Just because he's transformed into a monster doesn't mean zhat he's safe. Quite zhe opposite. If zhe villagers knew, zhey vould come after him to kill him. Humans fear vhat zhey don't understand, und ve don't vant zhem to act on zhat fear vizh violence." Elizabeta turned back to the counter she was cleaning.

Though still quite confused by the whole situation, Felicia resolved to let it go, and instead asked her what her duties would be.

"Cooking, mostly. Ve don't need any more people to clean around here, und zhose of us zhat are good at cooking hate it, und zhose zhat like to cook are terrible at it. You _can_ cook, right?"

Feli nodded. "And I really like cooking, too!" she said with a smile.

"Ahem…" Roderich apparently hadn't left yet. "I still have to show you vhere your chambers vill be." He began to depart from the kitchen, clearly expecting Felicia to follow him. After a moment, she did follow him, and behind her she heard Elizabeta's voice, "Hmph, vhat a snob."

Roderich led Felicia to the stairs in the foyer, and up the first set to the second floor, instead of the third floor where she had been shown to the Master. The room he showed her to, she noticed, was almost directly below Ludwig's on the third floor.

"Here is your room. You can get freshened up und go to vork vhen you feel ready. If zhere's anyzhing else you need, you can ask Elizabeta. You remember zhe vay to zhe kitchen, right?" She nodded. "Good, zhen I can leave you here to your own business." He walked back the way he came, then went upstairs. Feli opened the door slowly, and stepped inside.

The room was dark, except for a little light from the window across the room. She found a box of matches, and lit the candelabra, to take a look around. The room wasn't anything special, but it made Felicia think of home.

Right about that time, Lovina would be back home, probably crying because she thought Feli was dead. She imagined herself in her own room. Felicia saw her father enter, look around the room sorrowfully, then walk out with tears in his eyes. Next came Lovina, who stood in the middle of the room, staring. It was several minutes, and then Lovina burst into tears. Felicia reached out for her sister, she wanted to comfort her; tell her she was alive, everything would be alright. But her hand just went through the image she had conjured in her mind, and everything vanished.

Feli could no longer bring herself to stay in the room, and thus went back to the kitchen to start work.

"Back already? I vould have zhought you'd vant to freshen up a bit first." Elizabeta shrugged. "Vell, you have your vork cut out for you. Mostly, everybody just cooks for zhemselves, but vizh you around… Vell, altogezher, you have tvelve people to cook for."

Felicia nodded, "That shouldn't be too hard!" and smiled. She was, for the most part, back to her cheerful self. Her episode in her room was put out of her mind, and she got to work immediately, until a thought occurred to her.

"Wait…. Will Ludwig be eating, too?" She tried to imagine him eating at a table with everyone else.

"Ja, he vill, but he von't be coming down to dine. He stays in his room for zhe most part. If he's not in his room, he von't be in zhe mansion at all." Her voice was somber, it was plain that she cared about Ludwig very much, but Feli couldn't exactly tell in what way she cared about him. _Hm… Maybe they're kind of like a brother and sister. _She tried to ponder what kind of relationship they all had with Ludwig, when there was a horrible sound outside the kitchen.

"KESESESESE! Hey, Eliza, you in here?" A man with white hair entered the kitchen, and like all the others that day, was speechless when he saw Felicia. She knew instantly what he would say next.

"Yes, I'm a girl. Yes, I'm this year's 'sacrifice', so don't even say anything about it!" She took a deep breath. It was unlike her to get so irritated, especially over something so insignificant as the fact that she was the first female to be sent to them by the village.

Was it that insignificant? She was the first girl to be sent in the whole seven years that it had been going on. Felicia started to question why Ludwig was a monster. Seven years ago, everybody would gather in this mansion for parties and get-togethers. Everybody told stories about it. What changed, and why? Feli had no idea how somebody could go from being the talk of the town like that, and then being a hideous beast.

The man that had walked into the kitchen was still dumbfounded. He was not expecting such an outburst from a complete stranger.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to offend you…" He looked like he was afraid somebody was going to hurt him. Elizabeta looked like the one that might do just that. She was glaring daggers at him, and he just looked at the floor and blushed, his red cheeks standing out against his pale skin. "Really, I am sorry…" He backed up and left the kitchen in a hurry.

Feli turned to Elizabeta then. "What was that about? The way he looked at you…" Eliza turned away, "Just forget about it."

There was no more conversation between the two of them for the rest of the day. Servants, who had come from the village, occasionally entered the kitchen, and just as quickly, they left. Feli was too busy cooking for everybody to notice much about them, but when it was time for dinner, instead of going to eat in the dining hall with the rest of them, she stayed in the kitchen and ate by herself.

Felicia stayed in the kitchen until late that night, cleaning dishes, washing the counters, mopping the floor. She didn't mind it, and it helped to take her thoughts away from her troubles. She was so absorbed in her cleaning, that she didn't notice when the door to the kitchen opened.

* * *

Ludwig was irritated when he got to the kitchen and found out someone had left the candles lit inside. He opened the door and almost dropped the candelabra he was carrying.

Felicia was in the kitchen, cleaning, and Ludwig was internally debating whether he wanted to make the tea or just try to go to bed and pretend he was never there. Before he had a chance to decide, another internal debate started.

**Hehehehe… Go ahead… Give in… You can't escape it forever! Stop trying to run away from it and just do it!**

Ludwig could feel his willpower fading, his head felt light, and he struggled to fight back.

_No! Don't do it! You still have a chance! It will be all over if you give in now, and you'll never have another chance!_

He felt normal again, but he was afraid if he left the kitchen, it would return, stronger than before.

**You're weak! If you give in, life will be peaceful again. Pure bliss.**

It was quiet again, and Ludwig finally spoke, "Vhat are you doing in here this late?" Felicia jumped, dropping the mop she was holding. "Oh, Ludwig! I'm sorry, I didn't know you would be in here, I'll leave now!" She was about to head for the door, just behind Ludwig.

**Feed.**

"Nein!" Felicia stopped in her tracks; she'd barely taken a step. "It's fine… Just go ahead… I just vanted to make some tea." His heart beat faster; he wasn't sure if it was because of… it, or because he was alone with Felicia again.

"…How long have you been standing there?" Ludwig noticed that she was slowly backing up.

"I… I just got here… I vill leave, it's alright, I didn't need tea anyvay." He turned to leave, but he was rooted in place.

**I said feed! You won't ignore me; I won't let you ignore me anymore.**

"Are you alright, Ludwig?" Feli's voice was more fear than concern, but there _was_ concern there. He could sense it.

Ludwig struggled to put the candelabra on the counter beside him, then took his head in his hands.

_You can hold out against it. You're still human on the inside, don't let it consume you! _He stood up straight now, or at least as straight as one can stand up with the stature of a wolf.

"I'm fine. Please, don't vorry about cleaning, just go to bed." His eyes showed his sincerity; however, Felicia showed reluctance to comply, due to Ludwig's close proximity with the door.

"I could make the tea for you…" Ludwig had forgotten what he was even in there for, and looked at the teabag he was holding. "Oh… Ja, zhat vould be nice." He tossed the bag to her, fully aware that she wouldn't allow him to approach her, and she started to boil some water.

Ludwig turned to leave, "I'll be in my room. Vhen you're done, just bring zhe tea und leave it outside zhe door, alright?" He left without waiting for a response; he was used to his word never being questioned, and he wasn't about to change that now. He went back to his room, knowing that his orders would be carried out, and she would bring the tea to him when it was done.

As soon as he was alone in his room, though, it was back.

**Why don't you listen to me? You've made your first transformation; you might as well go all the way!**

_If you allow it to win, you'll lose your humanity, and you'll never get it back._

There was a knock at the door, and the sound of footsteps receding. When Ludwig couldn't hear anything again, he opened the door, and picked up the tray left there. He could see her walking down the stairs from over the banister that overlooked the front foyer. When she was out of sight, he went back into his room to drink the tea. The tea she made for him.

* * *

**Angry German: *cries* I wrote half of this without CanaDERP being there to fangirl over it! It was incredibly depressing, but I made it through and finished it somehow!**

****_CanaDERP: *pats AG* I'm sorry, Angry German! I had to go to a baby shower full of people who hate me! ;A; If I could have, I definitely would have stayed to read it with you! ;A;_

__**Angry German: I know you would have rather stayed with me, CanaDERP. *wipes away a single tear* I missed you so much. The highlight of my day was when you came back and I got to show you the rest of this chapter, and you fangirled all over it.**

_CanaDERP: AG, I fangirl over just about everything you write. XD YOU WRITE THINGS WHICH AMUSE AND ENTERTAIN ME, AND YOU WRITE THEM SO AMAZINGLY. *weeps and hugs AG while simultaneously admiring her PruCan mouse cursor*_**  
**

**Angry German: Erghh... Get off of me. *tries to push her away* I suddenly don't miss you anymore...**_  
_

_CanaDERP: *laughs maniacally and derps atop AG's head* Well, anyway...how'd you like this chapter? I, personally, loved it-Feli and Ludwig meeting, the tension, the possibilities...OH, THE POSSIBILITIES! *leaps off of AG's head and spins around happily*_**  
**

__**Angry German: *facepalm***


	4. Chapter 3

Lovina had only been without her sister for a day, and she was already having a meltdown. She couldn't function; everything she looked at reminded her of Felicia. Francis was even beginning to hit on her like he had Felicia only the day before.

Her father wasn't much better. He was trying not to think of Feli, and to do so, he stayed in bed all day. Lovina was determined to get on with her life, and to get revenge on the monster that had killed her sister. She knew it was too soon to go after him; she'd have to wait a while before the time was right, but by then, she could have half the village on her side.

That morning, Lovina had completely forgotten about her sister's demise… until she went into her room, and the memories came flooding back. It was then that she had decided that she would get revenge, sooner or later. Her other half was gone forever, and she would make sure that somebody paid for it. Along with hunting down and killing the monster that had devoured her sister, she thought that overthrowing the village council would be in order as well, since it had been they who chose her name out all the other candidates in the village. It would be only fitting if she could have them killed the same way they had had her sister killed, but accomplishing that would be difficult, so she decided that overthrowing them and killing them would just have to do.

The first person she knew that would join her cause—if not in actually killing the beast, then at least in giving her support—was Francis. He was in love with Felicia, and even if he wouldn't fight to get vengeance for her, he would at least help to find people that _would_ fight. And so that morning, Lovina set out to the tea shop, where she knew he would be.

As she had expected, Francis was there, though nobody else was. The owner of the teashop was a man named Arthur, and it was rumored that his food was toxic, so no one ever went in there. The only people in there now were Francis, Arthur, and his indentured servant, Alfred.

There were few people who could actually stand the scones and tea that were served, and fewer still who really liked them. Apparently, Francis seemed to be one of the latter… or maybe he just felt sorry for Arthur and didn't want his shop to go out of business. Lovina didn't know, and she didn't particularly care; she was there for a reason, not to wonder about why Francis would eat crap like that.

Lovina approached him, "Hey, bast—I mean, Francis!" He turned around, pleasantly surprised that _she_ had come to call on _him_, and smiled at her. It didn't seem to matter to him which one of them he hit on, or proposed to. When Feli had turned down for marriage, he had asked Lovina not five minutes later.

"Oh, why 'ello, _mon amour_! I never expected you to be calling on me like zis! Ohonhonhonhon! But I won't complain when zere's such a lovely lady zat wants _my_ attention!" Was he always so full of himself? Usually Lovina just ignored what he said, but she had to talk to him now, which also meant putting up with his flirtatious attitude. However, she had a feeling it wouldn't work out, especially if she didn't hold her tongue.

"I didn't come here to accept your marriage proposal; I came to talk about something else entirely!" She was getting irritated. But then again, she got irritated quite easily. She took a seat at the table across from him.

"Oohh, a proposal of your own, hm? Well, go a'ead, talk." He put his elbows up on the table and rested his chin in his hands. "I'll listen as long as you are ze one talking, _mon amour_." He smiled at her, pushing her toward the edge, but she managed to keep her calm.

"I want to get some people together to get rid of that monster that killed my sister, and I thought you could help me." She had to come up with something to tell him to motivate him. Why would _he _be the right one to get the villagers into a mob to kill the beast? Maybe a little of his own medicine would help him make up his mind. And that medicine was flattery. "Everybody respects your opinion in the village. They'll listen to you, because they all like you." She tried her best to sound sincere now. "And I need your help, most of all."

She could tell the flattery worked, his eyes sparkled; he looked on the verge of tears. He sat up straight.

"You're right! You do need my 'elp! And I will do zis for you, and for Felicia's memory! It's the least I can do for you and your family!"

Under her breath, Lovina mumbled, "Ain't that the truth?" then Francis started talking again.

"And of course, zere would be a little somezing owed to me, hm?" He winked at her, as though expecting something.

That manipulative son of a bitch! He expected her to marry him in exchange for helping her get revenge for Felicia! Sure, he didn't say it in so many words, but she knew what he meant. Lovina hoped her face didn't show that she had figured it out, and decided to pretend she didn't know.

"Of course…" She faked the best smile she could. Unless he came right out and said that he expected her to marry him in exchange for his help, she was safe, and could say she made no such deal with him when it was all over.

"Ohonhonhonhon! I'll get working on it right away, zen! I won't let Felicia's death go unpunished!" Lovina couldn't believe it. It had worked. He had agreed to do it, and they had agreed that Feli should be avenged. Now she was afraid she'd actually start liking him. She quickly came up with an excuse to leave, and didn't wait for a response before she rushed out the door, and almost ran into Antonio.

"Woah! Where are you going in such a hurry, chica?" Antonio caught her by her shoulders to keep her from falling over after coming to a sudden stop. She pushed him away.

"Don't you touch me, bastard! Who do you think you are to touch me like that?!" Antonio just kept smiling, and replied in a mild-mannered tone, "I was just trying to keep you from falling, calm down." He took his hands away, putting them up defensively, but then his happy expression became mournful.

"Lovina… about your sister… I'm so sorry… I wanted to try and console you yesterday, but I never got the chance…" Lovina had been trying not to think about it, but now the tears came again, and she sobbed against his chest.

"I… I can't believe… that I'll never see her again!" The tears streamed down her face, soaking Antonio's shirt. Cautiously, Antonio put his arms around her. "I know…. I know…" Still holding her about the shoulders, he walked Lovina back to her house.

"I overheard you talking with Francis in there… You want to get revenge on that beast, right? I'll help you." His smile returned, and he opened the front door for her. "This stupid sacrifice thing has been going on too long anyway." For the first time since she'd met him, Lovina returned a smile.

* * *

"You really think she'd marry you just because you intend to help her get revenge?" Arthur had come back with some more tea for Francis, and had apparently overheard his conversation with Lovina.

Arthur was a young blonde man, with slightly thick eyebrows. His food left something to be desired, but he opened a tea shop anyway. Alfred was even younger still, just barely an adult. He was an indentured servant because he was an orphan, and Arthur had taken him in when he was a child.

The first time Francis had come into his tea shop, Arthur was very pleased, since he very rarely had customers. However, that feeling quickly faded when Francis insulted his cooking, as most people usually did. Even though he seemed to hate his cooking, Francis kept coming back every morning, if only to do nothing but talk to him.

Francis sighed. "She might… one can always 'ope, yes?" He glanced up at the man that he had come to consider as a close friend. "I suppose even if she doesn't want to marry me, it's not a complete loss, hm?" He put his hand on top of Arthur's and smiled at him. Arthur blushed, and then pulled his hand away.

"Do you just throw your love around to anybody that comes along?!" He filled the empty teacup on the table and went back to the kitchen. Francis talked to himself now, for there was no one else in the room. "_Non_, I do not zrow my love around! I give it willingly to zose zat deserve it. Ohonhonhon. But… which one is ze most deserving of my love? Hmm… It would be easier to decide if any of zem returned my love…"

* * *

Felicia did exactly what he had said. When she finished the tea, she put the teapot and a cup for him on a tray and left it outside his door. She knocked once, then decided it would probably be best to vacate the area as soon as possible, in case a repeat of his strange behavior occurred when he opened the door.

When Feli was in her room, she took the time to think about everything that had happened to her that day. She wasn't usually one to ponder over everything, but it all seemed very curious to her. Thinking about all the questions she had didn't do her any good, so she decided she'd ask Eliza tomorrow.

As soon as Felicia was in bed, however, her questions came back to the front of her mind in full force. She couldn't get herself to go to sleep for the strange room and the strange bed made it impossible. Everything made her restless. Thinking about Lovina made things even worse, and no matter how much she tossed and turned, she couldn't fall asleep.

Thoughts spun in her head until they all muddled together, and she dozed off slowly before she even knew she was sleepy.

* * *

In the morning, she was woken up rather abruptly by Roderich knocking on the door.

"Vhy zhe hell are you still sleeping?! It's only your first day here und you already sleep in! Get out of bed right now!" She didn't know he could be so rude; he'd seemed so nice before! She sat up reluctantly, and got out of bed, heading for the door.

"I'm sorry; I was up kind of late last night cleaning…" She opened the door, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "I really am sorry…" looking up, she saw he was staring at her.

"Did you… sleep in your clothes?" He looked her up and down.

She had only just woken up, and she was already irritated. She wondered if that was how Lovina felt every day. "Of course I did! It's not like I packed my bags when I was taken away to be _sacrificed_ to a monster!" Feli thought about slamming the door in his face, but restrained herself. Roderich bit his lip.

"Of course…. I apologize, I vas out a line. Getting you some new clothes should a top priority. Excuse me, I'll go get Elizabeta." He nodded politely, then closed the doors and left.

Feli sighed, and sat at the table near the window. Off in the distance, she saw a wolf, which was gazing in the direction of the mansion. She was not used to seeing wolves, and she would have been scared, but it wasn't as though the wolf could come inside… However, there was Ludwig, who was much like a wolf… When her mind returned, Feli noticed that the wolf was gone.

Elizabeta knocked on the door, and entered without waiting for a response. "Roderich told me zhat I needed to come up here und take your measurements so I can start vorking on new clothes for you!" She smiled; it seemed as though she would be happy to make new clothes for her. _Well, she's the only other woman that lives here… maybe making women's clothes would be a nice change…_

Standing up, Felicia nodded at Elizabeta. "Sure, I suppose. What do you need me to do? I've never had anybody make clothes for me before…" She was still thinking about that wolf outside. Elizabeta smiled at her, "You just have to disrobe und stand still for me, ok?" She lit several candles and drew the curtains. Feli nodded, "Alright," and began disrobing. Eliza pulled out a measuring tape. "You just need to dress down to your undervear so I can get an accurate measurement."

Well, Eliza got to work quickly; telling Feli to put her arms straight out. After taking the measurement of her chest, she wrote down something on a small pad of paper. She measured her shoulder-width as well, still writing something down afterward. Feli began to get curious about what a seamstress' job entailed. She didn't get to wonder about it long, because shortly after her shoulders were measured, the door opened, and Ludwig came in.

He had been saying something when he came in, asking what Eliza was doing and why she wasn't downstairs, until he looked up, and saw Felicia in nothing but her delicates. There was a moment of silence between the three, as they were all too shocked to speak, until Felicia screamed. Ludwig covered his eyes and tried to apologize, but Elizabeta started throwing things at him, yelling at him to get out.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know vhat you vere doing in here!" He hurried out the door, apologizing as Elizabeta hit him with candle sticks and random books.

"GET OUT!" Felicia was covering herself with her hands, incredibly embarrassed. After Ludwig had left and the door was closed, Elizabeta locked the door. "How rude! I can't believe he vould do somezhing like zhat! He's never entered a voman's room vithout knocking first! Who does he zhink he is?!"

It's hard to say who was more shocked at this moment. Felicia just had a man—and one she had known less than a day—walk in on her while she had nothing but her underwear on. On the other hand, Ludwig was a young man, and had not yet ever seen a woman in such a state before.

* * *

Ludwig wasted no time after he was out of the room; he bounded through the hallway around the foyer and up the stairs, not stopping until he got to his room, locking the door behind him. Upon entering the main chamber of his room, he looked around a moment, then went into the inner chamber to the left, where his bed was, and locked that door as well.

"_Mein Gott_, vhat have I just done?!" He knocked over a table, then beat his head against the wall. It quickly occurred to him that Feli was not that far away from him. The room she was in was directly below his room. Had Roderich planned that intentionally? He groaned, "She vill never forgive me for zhis… Vhat hope do I have now?" He noticed that it wasn't talking to him at the moment, which was strange, considering what just happened.

_Your human emotions are keeping it at bay. Maybe being around her will help you fight it off now. There seems to be more hope now than there ever was before._

Ludwig pushed himself upright, away from the wall. He was blushing at the memory. "Thinking about her… keeps it at bay?" He drew the curtains, and sat on his bed in complete darkness. He could hear a knock at the door to the main chamber, but he ignored it. He knew it was Valdemar, worried about all the noises inside. He didn't care; he had something else to help him now. If thinking of her helped, then that's what he would do.

* * *

Felicia was entirely dumbfounded at what had just occurred. Elizabeta was still swearing and cursing, more than a lady should, about Ludwig walking in without knocking. She knew it was an accident, so Felicia got over it pretty quickly; she wasn't angry about it, just stunned.

It wasn't long before Elizabeta continued her work of taking Felicia's measurements, and it didn't take long before she was done. She smiled at Felicia, and said, "I'll have some new clothes for you in about a veek, ok?" Felicia started putting her clothes back on, and Elizabeta looked over the pad of paper she had written on, and nodded to herself. "I'll lend you some of my clothes until I can get yours ready, alright? I'd hate to make you vear zhe same zhing for a whole veek!"

When Felicia came out from behind the screen, fully clothed again, Elizabeta turned to her. "Don't be too harsh on him. He's never even seen a voman in her undergarments before; he's probably a lot more shocked zhan you are." She giggled, unlocked the door, winked to Feli, and left.

After a few minutes, Feli brushed her hair and went to the kitchen to start working. When she got there, Elizabeta wasn't there, but instead it was a young man that she vaguely remembered from the village a few years ago. He forced a smile, then continued working silently.

"_I wonder what his problem is. None of the other servants that came from the village talk at all. What's wrong with them?" _She began cooking breakfast, but couldn't stop thinking about what had happened between her and Ludwig that morning. She remembered hearing several loud noises from his room after he'd been pushed out of the room by Elizabeta. All the crashing and banging noises worried her. Just because he wasn't normal didn't mean that he couldn't feel pain, and he was probably hurting himself. This thought worried her, so she decided to go check on him.

After she finished making breakfast, she asked the young man in the kitchen with her to serve everybody, and she left the kitchen. The foyer was completely empty, and she nervously ascended the stairs to Ludwig's room. She stopped at the door, her hand up, ready to knock. She heard growling from inside, and took a step back. "…Ludwig? …Are you alright?" Feli could barely hear her own voice, but the growling stopped. Had he really heard her? There was a clicking noise within the chamber, and the sound of a door opening.

"Felicia? …I'm sorry about zhis morning… Please don't vorry about me, I'm fine." He was just on the other side of the door. Felicia could hear him breathing.

"You don't sound well! Are you sure you're ok?" Her hand touched the door's handle, and she opened the door before she had time to think.

Their eyes met, but his were different now. They were almost white, no pupils or irises; just white. He retreated back into the dark room a few feet, but his eyes were still visible against the blackness. Felicia's voice was caught in her throat. The fear she felt was evident in her features.

"What… what happened to you? Your eyes… they're…" Her breathing was shallow.

"My… eyes?" He'd taken a step toward her, and she could see his face vaguely now. Ludwig seemed just as surprised as she was about his eyes, and now they widened, as though he was afraid too. He whispered, "Get out…" Feli wasn't sure what to do, or what was wrong with him. When she didn't move, he got angry. "GET OUT! NOW!" Color returned to his eyes, but it wasn't the color she recognized. They went from white to blood red. She got the message; he was dangerous. She slammed the door and ran.

The door burst into splinters behind her, and he emerged from the dark, cold room in which he had been dwelling. His eyes fixed on her as she ran down the hallway, and he bounded after her. Screams ripped through the mansion, and Valdemar's door opened suddenly, putting him between Felicia and Ludwig. Skidding to a halt ten feet shy of Valdemar, Ludwig stared at the man, those red eyes almost showing the fear he obviously felt at that moment.

Valdemar raised a hand, and closed his fist. Ludwig was writhing on the floor in pain, but Valdemar's expression never changed. He spoke in a very monotone voice, "You von't be causing trauma to her as you have all the others, Ludvig. I should have expected zhis from you; it's happened every year before at one time or another. I'm rather disappointed; I zhought you'd gotten better." Ludwig stopped moving, he lay on the floor motionless now.

He stirred on the ground now, a quiet, constant noise escaped from him. He was sobbing. "I'm sorry.… I tried…. But it vouldn't go avay… I tried… really, I did…" He held his head, his eyes shut tight, grimacing with pain.

Valdemar lowered his hand. "If you can't control it by now, you never vill." Feli hadn't realized it, but she was clinging to Valdemar's arm.

_So that's why the rest of them won't talk. I don't want to know what would have happened if Valdemar hadn't interfered when he had. _She wanted to comfort Ludwig, but she was still scared of him. Perhaps it would be best for her to stay away from him from now on. His behavior was too erratic to be trusted; he could hurt her any time, and he might not even realize he's doing it.

Valdemar gently pushed Felicia away, and knelt down to pick up Ludwig, throwing him over his shoulder. He was much stronger than he looked! Ludwig was a lot bigger than him, being what he was, and Feli was surprised that Valdemar could even lift him. Ludwig didn't even try to stand on his own; his body went limp as soon as Valdemar touched him. "You should get back to vork." And with that, he carried Ludwig back to his room.

He was barely conscious, but Ludwig mumbled to Valdemar, "I tried to control it…. She said… my eyes… und I knew.… Und zhen I vas gone…." He was weeping again. "I'm scared, Valdemar... she may be… zhe last hope I have… und I almost…" His voice trailed off into quiet sobbing and moans of pain.

Feli couldn't help but stare as Valdemar walked away with Ludwig slung over his shoulder. He wasn't a bad person, but… he wasn't always in control. She wanted to help him in some way, but she had no idea how. Felicia decided that she would talk to Elizabeta to find out everything she could about Ludwig; perhaps she could learn how to help him that way.

* * *

**Me: OMG, I GOT A TON OF CHOCOLATE, THIS IS FABULOUS AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS CHAPTER AT ALL, THE NEXT CHAPTER NEEDS CHOCOLATE AND I LIKE RUN-ON SENTENCES. *runs away screaming into the night***

_CanaDERP: O_O_

_AG. You have gone insane. *sips tea and watches Angry German scream off into the night* This is actually quite entertaining…usually I'M the derp._

**Angry German: *appears in front of CanaDERP* I'M NOT A DERP! YOU'RE A TERRIBLE INFLUENCE ON ME! NO CHOCOLATE FOR YOU! *goes to share chocolate with the awesome Prussia***

_CanaDERP: *screams and flies off into the night* *latches onto Prussia and steals his chocolate*NO CHOCOLATE FOR YOU, MY FAVORITE DORK-WITH-A-BLOG._

**Angry German: *slaps* NO, THAT'S MY BROTHER'S CHOCOLATE, AND IF YOU STEAL IT YOU'LL MAKE HIM MAD! TRUST ME, HE WENT RUNNING INTO THE STREETS NAKED WHEN I TOOK HIS CHOCOLATE AWAY, JUST GIVE IT BACK! Also, CanaDERP, because of you, I've started calling my cat Neko-chu, and whenever I pick him up, I say "NEKO-CHU, I CHOOSE YOU!" It's all your fault. I don't even watch Pokemon... I don't even LIKE Pokemon!**

_CanaDERP: 8D I told you I would drag you into one of my fandoms, as you did to me with Hetalia…You have dragged me down into the dark abyss of the Hetalia fandom, and now there is no hope for me to escape alive, with all my feels intact… *weeps and shares chocolate with the invisible (possibly nonexistent) Prussia*_

**Angry German: I'm not into your fandom, I just call my cat Neko-chu. And I didn't drag you into the fandom, you went searching for it. It's not my fault. And nobody got my Shakespeare reference a few chapters back. *sadface***

_CanaDERP: True, but you're the one who introduced me to Hetalia. Remember? "OMG U NEED TO PIK OUT A COUNTRY WICH COUNTRY R U?" "LOL I DUNNO WUT'S GOIN' ON I AM CANADA." So it's still your fault. 8I Also, Shakespeare. *laughs* WAIT YOU MADE A REFERENCE? …That wasn't to Hetalia or Skyrim or Portal? 8O_

**Angry German: Yes, I did. I said that we don't fly a black flag over this theatre, which is a reference to Shakespeare's time when they would fly a black flag over the theatre if they were doing a tragedy, and a white flag for a comedy.**

_CanaDERP: The more you know! 8D_


	5. Chapter 4

**AG: Well, we're back, and I finished another chapter! Are you guys fangirling yet?**

****_CanaDERP: *runs in* Hey, AG! I found your "magazine" collection~! ;)_

__**AG: WHAT?! NO! I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU FOUND THOSE, BUT IF YOU SHOW THEM TO ANYBODY, I WILL KILL YOU! GIVE THOSE HERE, RIGHT NOW!**

_CanaDERP: HERP! *shows readers censored images* Lookit what I found under AG's bed~! HURR HURR!_**  
**

**AG: *beats CanaDERP senseless and takes back the magazines* GAH! Do you have anything to say about the fanfic before we get on with this chapter?!**

_CanaDERP: *cries* Yes...I loved this chapter. It made me fangirl, as usual... *rubs head* Ow...AG, you meanie-face! D8_**  
**

__**AG: *goes to room, locks the door* I've gotta hide these somewhere a random moron won't find them...**

* * *

"How can you be so calm about zhis?! Didn't I tell you vhat he did to Felicia zhis morning?!" Roderich had just finished telling Gilbert what he'd heard from Eliza, and Gilbert wasn't reacting the way he had expected him to.

"Felicia? Oh, is zhat zhe girl zhat vas in the kitchen yesterday? So vhat if he valked in on her naked? It's about time he got to see _somezhing_ like zhat! He's becoming a man, like me! It vould suck if he ended up like you, sissy girl-boy!" The two were in Gilbert's room at the time, which suited Gil just fine, but Roderich couldn't stand how messy it was.

"Zhat's not all he did! Vere you even paying attention to zhe last part?" Roderich had been at the bottom of the stairs when he heard Felicia's scream, and he had seen what happened, and had been immensely relieved when Valdemar appeared; Roderich knew he wouldn't have time to get up the stairs and save her, much less be able to stop Ludwig by himself anyway.

"Nein, I vas too busy being awesome to listen to you. It had better be more important zhan him valking in on a girl in her undervear! I don't zhink anyzhing he could have done vould top zhat!" Gilbert was smiling, and Roderich wanted to wipe that smile right off his face. However, being the kind of person he was, Roderich would not actually do that, even if it _was_ Gilbert.

"Vell, idiot, vhat has he done every single year to every single person zhat has been sent to us?" Roderich crossed his arms over his chest; he was quite easily irritated with Gilbert.

For once, Gilbert actually looked like he cared about what Roderich had said. "Hmm…Oh… He did zhat?! To HER? You know… I've started to vonder if zhere is any hope left for him… Maybe it's just been too long…" He sighed, staring off into space. "Roddy… Vhat if he doesn't break zhe curse? Vhat vill ve do vizh him? Ve can't just let him continue on like zhis… He's just been getting vorse und…" Roderich had turned to leave. "Let's not talk about it." And he was gone.

Gilbert stood, and stared out the window. It was fairly early in the morning, and the sun was slowly creeping across the courtyard. "He's like mein bruder… Vhat if he never gets to be human again?" His smile, that he was unaware he was still wearing across his face, began to fade. "I vant to help… but I don't know how… He's just gotten more depressed lately, und zhat is making me depressed, und it's ruining my awesomeness! … Hm?" He thought he saw something moving in the courtyard, but when he looked again, there was nothing there.

"Maybe… zhe shadows vere playing tricks on me." He put a hand on his head. "I vish I could just talk to him… But it's just been getting vorse und talking to him might mean…" He put his hand to his throat now. "If only Valdemar could do somezhing for him! If nozhing can be done… zhen vhat's zhe point in making him live vith such torment?" Now, Gilbert wasn't really the kind of man to think deeply about anything that didn't concern his own ego, but Ludwig was like an older brother to him, and he found that he couldn't help but think about him. He turned around, "Nein! I can't just give up on him! Zhat girl is his only chance… I've never been a matchmaker before, but vizh my awesomeness, maybe I can make it vork… Kesesesese!"

* * *

Roderich was rather irritated, as he usually was after speaking with Gil, but this time, it was worse. He wanted someone to talk to, but when Felicia came into Eliza's room while they were talking, Eliza promptly kicked him out! After he was finished talking to Gil, he didn't have anybody else he could go to. Valdemar was probably doing something to Ludwig, trying to help him in some way, and the only people left to talk to were the mute servants. Only one that he could recall wasn't mute after what Ludwig had done, and that was the first one ever sent to them.

He was trying to remember the young man's name. What was it? Bernard? No, wasn't not it. It had been seven years since he'd met the man, and he'd never spoken to him, but he knew that he was the only one that would, and could, still speak. Was it Gerard? …No, that wasn't it either. What about Harold? Nope… He seemed to be getting further from his actual name every time he tried to think of it. Walden? The "wald" part was right…

"Ja, zhat's it! Bervald! Zhat's his name!" Roderich set out to find him now, and he had a feeling he would be in the courtyard.

The courtyard was mostly dark, since it was primarily centered on the north side of the mansion, and it was early morning in late fall. The shadow the mansion cast over the courtyard made the building seem even taller, with the sun so low in the sky. The young man was sitting on a bench, and his dark clothes made him blend in to the shadows. When he saw Roderich, he stood up promptly, clearly expecting to be reprimanded for not working. He attempted to walk by Roderich, and was expecting Roderich to turn and let him pass, but he stood firm.

"…" Berwald was not really one to talk a lot, but at least he was still capable of talking. "I'm not mad at you, Bervald, I just vant to talk…" Memories flickered in his mind, of the day when Berwald was found just within the gates of the mansion, hands tied behind his back. Yet even then, he wore the same expression. He wasn't worried or scared, or anything at all. He almost looked angry, and in truth, Roderich was rather scared of him. Even when Roderich cut the ropes that were binding his hands, Berwald hadn't reacted in any outwardly noticeable way. Maybe he didn't feel emotions at all. It didn't really matter; maybe somebody that was completely rational and without emotions would be the best person to talk to.

"Umm… I just need someone to talk to… About Ludvig. You've been here zhe longest, so you know vhat he's like… Und… I'm sure you've noticed zhat he's gotten vorse." Berwald gave a slight nod, which only indicated that he was paying attention, and not that he necessarily cared. Roderich continued, "Zhis morning, he almost attacked zhe newest arrival…"

"The girl, right?" Roderich couldn't remember what Berwald's voice sounded like, so when he spoke with such a deep voice, he was a bit startled. Roderich nodded.

"Ja, zhe new arrival is a girl. You've seen her? I vas surprised, too."

"I wasn't surprised." For the first time, Roderich looked up to meet Berwald's gaze. From where he had been, Roderich couldn't tell that Berwald was so tall. Was he this tall when he first met him? His height was intimidating, and Roderich backed up.

"You're worried about him."

Roderich nodded, "I don't vant him to be stuck zhis vay forever. I know you've never known him any ozher vay zhan how he is now, but he's like a little bruder to me." He noticed the younger man was staring at him. Why were those eyes so terrifying? Berwald had never given him reason to fear him, but regardless, his expression—or lack thereof—was cause enough to produce fear in anyone.

"There's still a chance. Maybe that girl is the answer." Berwald brushed past him, and went back inside. "Standing out here won't help any." The girl is the answer? Maybe he was right. If Roderich could get Felicia and Ludwig to fall in love, Ludwig's problems would be over! But that was much easier said than done; he couldn't just make them fall in love with each other. It didn't work that way. If Ludwig's condition wasn't so terrible already, it would make things a lot easier. "Hmm… Perhaps I can make it vork…"

* * *

"Why won't you answer my questions? Why should this be a secret? If I have to live here, I should be allowed to know!" Felicia had been asking Eliza about Ludwig, but she wasn't getting anywhere; Eliza seemed very reluctant to answer her questions about anything. It's as though she had to hide everything, but why?

"I can't tell you! If I tell you und Ludvig doesn't vant me to, he'll be very angry! You'll have to ask him yourself!"

"I can't ask him myself! There's something wrong with him, and I want to know what's going on!" Felicia was getting angry; she came expecting to get answers, and she wasn't getting them at all. "I wanted to ask him, then he went berserk! How can I ask him what's going on?"

Eliza sighed. "I knew it vould happen… But I still can't tell you. He'll get better, it alvays happens vhen a new villager is sent to us. At least you didn't end up like zhe rest zhough. You've noticed zhey don't talk, right? Vell, vhat happened to you happened to zhem too, but it vas much vorse. Give him a few days, zhen try to ask him. Or maybe you can ask Valdemar. He doesn't care about making Ludvig angry. I'm really sorry, I'd like to help you, but I don't vant to make him upset." Taking a deep breath, she began to dig through a pile of clothes on her bed. "Since you're here already, I found some of my clothes zhat should fit you." She tossed several garments to Felicia, who caught them in her arms and looked at Eliza curiously.

"So… All the others are mute because of Ludwig?" Nodding, Eliza went through the pile again. "All but one, und I don't zhink you've made his acquaintance yet. Not zhat he's zhe talkative type…" Her hands fell back to her sides and she straightened up. "Vhen Valdemar finishes taking care of Ludvig after his…outburst, I recommend you go ask him vhat you asked me. He knows Ludvig better, und Ludvig confides in him more zhan anyone else."

Felicia turned to leave, but Elizabeta caught her arm. "I really am sorry. I vould love to answer your questions, but I just can't…" She let go, and Felicia hugged her with one arm.

"It's alright, I understand." Smiling, she waved slightly and left the room. As soon as the door was closed, she sighed, "I guess I'm back to square one…"

Felicia soon found that Valdemar was still with Ludwig, since he wasn't in his own room, so she resolved to seek out the one servant Eliza had mentioned, the only one that wasn't mute. Her only problem was that she had no idea where he would be, or what he looked like. A description of him would have helped. All she had to go by was the fact that he wasn't very talkative, but that wouldn't help her pick him out among the five others that couldn't talk!

She didn't even know his name; Eliza hadn't mentioned anything about him that would help her find him. Maybe she could ask Roderich or that man with the weird laugh who the servant was that could still talk. _It would be nice to talk to somebody that came from the village, too… I can't really expect Roderich to understand. _Suddenly being brought out of her daze, Felicia looked up as she ran into someone's back.

"Oh! I'm really sorry!" Whoever he was, he turned around when she spoke, and he appeared very angry. Feli's heart jumped into her throat. She noticed one of the teacups he was carrying had been emptied… all over his shirt. _No wonder he looks so mad! _Felicia wasn't quite sure if she was as scared of Ludwig upon their first meeting as she was of the man she'd just bumped into. She took several steps back, fearing the reaction that was sure to come.

"I'm so, SO sorry!" His expression made him look older than he really was, for in truth he was the same age as Ludwig, but his eyes made him seem more mature. When he spoke, Feli knew she'd found the man she had been looking for.

"It's fine." He glanced down at the tea stain on his dark overcoat. When Feli looked at him, she recalled something her best friend Tina had told her a long time ago.

"Were you the first one chosen to be brought here?" He nodded, and began wiping at his shirt with a white cloth. "Tina told me about you! I never thought she was describing you accurately…. Your name's Berwald, right?" He looked at her now. His gaze made a tingle go down her spine.

"You know Tina?" His expression softened, barely. Felicia nodded, "She told me that her… boyfriend… was the first one chosen seven years ago. I bet Tina would be so happy to find out you're still alive!" Her smile returned, and she forgot all about how terrifying he looked. However, now he looked stunned.

"She calls me…her boyfriend?" There was the slightest hint of a smile on his face now. "I suppose it's only fitting. I told her I would marry her."

Feli's eyes grew wide. "She never said anything about that! And she wasn't even old enough to marry back then!"

"…I know. I was eighteen and she was fifteen. We could have been married for four years now." He picked up the empty teacup he had previously set down, now that he had wiped all the tea from his shirt, and went back to the kitchen. Felicia followed him, and began asking questions, hoping he at least knew more than she did.

"I don't know much about Ludwig's problem. All I know is that he's under a curse." He poured another cup of tea, and sipped while listening to more questions roll out one after another from Felicia.

"How did it happen? Do you know who did it? How can he break the curse?" More and more questions rolled out, all about Ludwig, but what would Berwald know? He was in the same boat as Felicia, yet she expected him to know all the answers.

"You will have to be patient. The best idea would be to ask him yourself, rather than asking everyone else. It may be a while, though, I've already heard what happened this morning, and every time before, he has been laid up several days, if not weeks, after Valdemar deals with him." Felicia got the feeling that what he just said would be the most he would ever say, and it would more than likely be pointless to try to get him to say much more.

"Alright, I suppose… Thanks for helping! If you ever want to talk, I'd be glad to have somebody to talk to!" She smiled and waved to him as she exited the kitchen.

"You could also try talking to Valdemar… He knows a lot, and he doesn't seem to mind telling people what others don't want to." His back was turned to her, and he continued drinking his tea.

Her footsteps receded, and Berwald gazed into his tea. "So she talks about me, hm?"

* * *

Now that Lovina's plan was set in motion, she decided it was best to stay home and console her father, who was drunk again, as he had been ever since the day Feli had been taken away. He was sleeping off a hangover that morning, when someone knocked at the door. Lovina had been lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling when she heard the knock. She got out of bed, rather reluctantly, and went to the door, running her fingers through her hair to smooth out the knots.

"Yeah, who is it?" She opened the door, rubbing her eyes. Lovi was surprised to see it was Tina, Felicia's best friend until a few days earlier. Seeing her brought back painful memories of her sister that she had been trying to hold back ever since she was taken. It seemed that no matter how many times she cried over it, she would always cry again whenever she thought of Felicia.

"L-Lovina? I'm sorry to just drop in like this, but I wanted to offer my condolences… Can I come in?" Lovina nodded faintly, and took a step back to let Tina inside. She motioned for her to sit, and they both took a seat. Tina spoke first.

"I probably haven't told you this; I know I told Felicia about it, but the first person that was sacrificed… Well, he was my boyfriend." Lovina had had no idea, in fact, and was quite surprised to hear about it. At Lovina's shocked expression, Tina nodded, "He was… always saying that he would marry me…" she blushed, "But I wasn't old enough to get married at the time." The small amount of cheerfulness she had brought with her into the house faded now.

"We never got the chance. He was taken away as a sacrifice before I was even old enough. …I still imagine what kind of life we could have had together." She looked up to Lovina now, who had also been staring at the floor. "I just wanted you to know that you're not alone, and… if you need a shoulder to cry on, I wouldn't mind. I wish somebody would have been sympathetic with me when Berwald was taken away…"

Lovina took the opportunity to cry on Tina's shoulder, sobbing quietly, "Nobody should have to go through this! That bastard that killed my sister will meet his end soon!" Tina's expression went from sorrow to confusion.

"What do you mean he'll meet his end? What are you planning?"

"I'm going to gather people in this village and kill that monster! I already asked that bastard Francis to help, and Antonio said he would help me too! I just have to be patient, but I will get vengeance for my sister, one way or another." She seemed proud of her plan, but Tina was worried about her.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, if you go up against him, more people might die… Lovina, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Her brow was furrowed, her eyes sincere. "I don't want more bloodshed. I've already lost two people I was very close to; I don't want to lose more."

"But Tina! If we kill him once and for all, we won't have to worry about any more people being his victims! Once he's dead, nobody will suffer!" She took Tina's hands in her own. "Please, would you at least support me in this? For Berwald, and for my sister?" Her eyes were pleading.

Sighing, Tina resigned to agree with Lovina. "I suppose if it would put an end to the sacrifices… I guess it wouldn't be too much for me to throw my support behind you and… whoever helps you." She tried to smile, but the only expression son her face were worry and grief.

* * *

Matthew was sitting in the tea shop with Francis; the recent sacrifice had been depressing him.

"Francis, did I ever tell you that I knew somebody that worked in that mansion?" He sighed. "He's probably dead now; I'm sure that monster he was working for killed him." Putting his arms over the table, he rested his head on top of them, while Francis ignored him.

"As zough I care! I 'ad Feli taken away from me! Sure, I still 'ave Lovina, but zat cuts my chances in 'alf now!"

For once, the tea shop had quite a few people in it, though they were not all exactly customers. Two of them were Natalia and Katyusha, who were sisters. However, unlike Feli and Lovi, they would have been more than happy to have Francis fawn over them. Also in the tea shop with Matthew and Francis was Antonio, who was only there to speak with Francis.

"His name was Gilbert… I miss him so much. I know it's too much to hope that he made it out alive, but sometimes I still imagine seeing him in town at the market…" Matt was still droning on in his quiet voice, hardly noticed by anybody. "At least you knew it was coming, and you got to see her before she was gone… Gilbert just stopped coming into town one day, and then we heard about the monster. It was then that I knew I'd never see him ever again."

"Would you shut it already? I am sick of 'earing about it! You're just depressing me!" Francis huffed. Antonio felt there was probably not going to be a better time to interrupt, so he spoke up.

"_Mi amigo_, how are we going to get anybody to join us to kill that monster? Everybody's terrified that if we go against him, he'll slaughter us all. How can we convince them we can win?"

Francis perked up from his slump now. "Zey'll listen to me, just trust me. Ohonhonhonhon…"

_ He certainly looks confident. But will that be enough? _Antonio noticed that Francis's hangers-on were coming closer. _Those two need a hobby. I'm pretty sure Francis is less than interested in them… Wait, did Matt say Gilbert?_

"Say, Matthew, did you just mention a man named… Gilbert?" Francis was irritated now.

"'E 'asn't stopped talking about 'im since ze sacrifice _il ya trois jours_! Mattie, why can't you just—huh?" Antonio tugged at Francis's shirt sleeve, and pulled him aside. Francis only just realized that Matt's eyes were full of tears.

Matt was only thirteen years old when he heard of the news in the mansion, and it upset him quite deeply that his close friend Gilbert would never be heard from again. It's a mystery as to how Matt and Francis became close friends afterward, though it is rumored that in Matt's depression, Francis saved him from ending his own life, and lifted his spirits. However, every year after each sacrifice, Matt fell into the same depression, and Francis had become a bit tired of it after seven years. The age difference between the two also poses a bit of problem in their already strange relationship, for Francis is seven years Matthew's senior. It was due to this that Francis began to consider himself Matt's older brother, even though they were already cousins by marriage.

As Francis helped him through his misery and befriended him, Matt acted as a voice of reason to Francis. He had previously tried numerous times to get Francis over his obsession with Felicia and Lovina, but failed every time.

"I'm sorry, Matt… I didn't mean to…" Antonio pulled Francis away from the table and went outside.

"You know what, _amigo_? You can be _muy estupido_ sometimes!" He pointed to Matt through the window in the door. "Don't you remember Gilbert? _Dios mio,_ it's been a long time. I never knew that Gilbert and Matt were such close friends."

Ever since the Vargas family had come to live in the town three years earlier, Francis had forgotten about most everything before, and had concentrated on almost nothing but Felicia and Lovina almost every day, so it was no wonder he didn't recognize who Gilbert was when Matt talked about him.

"Gilbert, hm? … Oh, zat kid with ze white 'air and red eyes? Wow… It 'as been such a long time." He turned to look at Matthew through the window. "And I was so inconsiderate… I made him cry. I forget zat 'e's still young..."

Antonio groaned, "Just go apologize to him already. And you better mean it." He opened the door and pushed Francis back inside, but did not follow him in. Instead, he pulled the door closed and left.

_I would have smacked him, but it wouldn't have done me any good. While he's in there comforting Matt, I should be going to see Lovina to comfort her. I'm sure she could use it just as much as Matthew right now, and since Francis is busy…" _He chuckled to himself, and began to walk to Lovina's house. _"What am I thinking? Am I going to really take advantage of her emotional state just to get close to her?! _Dios mio, _what kind of person am I? I'm acting like Francis! But I should go console her anyway... I won't be like Francis! She's just a friend… A really cute… adorable friend… and she needs somebody's shoulder to cry on!"_

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the teashop…

"I'm really sorry, Mattie! 'Ow could you ever forgive me?" Antonio's little talk had made Francis feel terrible, and he was practically begging Matt for forgiveness. He had one of Matthew's hands in both of his own, staring into his eyes, on the brink of tears. "Please, Mattie, would you accept my apology, _mon ami_?"

"Francis, how many times do I have to tell you? It's okay, I understand; don't beat yourself up about it." He smiled, a rather forced smile, because Francis begging was rather pathetic, even for him. Matt tried to pull his hand away, but Francis just held it tighter.

"Oh, _merci, Mon ami!_ I don't know what I would do if I couldn't get you to forgive me!"

Arthur walked in then, surprised to see so many people there. Alfred had been taking care of the shop before he arrived, and Arthur was pleased that he had drawn in so many customers…until he realized that they were all there because of Francis, who was at that moment holding Matthew's hand across the table.

"Can you not control yourself?! Do you have to flirt with everyone that sits at the same table as you?!" Why was he so angry? It could'nt it be that he was… jealous?

"Ohonhonhon! Arthur, I'm not flirting with Matt! I was simply asking 'im to forgive me, I was… being a little rude earlier." His eyes sparkled when he looked at Arthur, and he stood, letting go of Matt's hand and taking Arthur's. "Really, _mon ami,_ are you jealous zat I was 'olding Mattie's 'and? I'm so flattered zat you feel zat way about me!" For a moment Arthur's gaze was soft, and sincere, then it changed to rage. He forced Francis's hands away from his own.

"Why would I be jealous over _you_, frog?! Get your hands away from me!" Arthur quickly moved past him and into the kitchen. He noticed his face felt hot. _"Why am I blushing? Seriously, why would I care about that wine-loving, flirtatious moron?!" _

Francis took his seat again, his eyes focused in the direction Arthur had disappeared in, a faint smile on his lips.

"He'll come to his senses soon enough. I'm sure of it." He left some money on the table and left the tea shop.

* * *

**AG: *is still beating CanaDERP* I AM NEVER LETTING YOU IN MY ROOM AGAIN!**

_CanaDERP: *gets tired of being beaten, so does a triple backflip and lands on AG's windowsill* NON! D8_

**AG: If you keep doing this, I will just post the next chapter by myself and I won't let you fangirl over it at all.**

_CanaDERP: *laughs at the absurdity of such a thing*_

**AG: Hmph, you think it's absurd now, but I've already started on chapter 5, and I haven't shown you a single word of it! BAHAHAHA!**

_CanaDERP: ... You will, though. *climbs out window and disappears* *reappears a second later* You will... *disappears again*_

**AG: Damn, why do you have to be right?! I hate you so much!**

_CanaDERP: *disembodied laughter floats in from outside as CanaDERP derps off into the sunset*_

**AG: Freak. *sits at computer, writes chapter 5***


	6. Chapter 5

_CanaDERP: *screams and flails* A GEEEE! You wrote more awesomeness!_

**AG: *backs up against a wall* ... Please don't tackle me... *turns to the readers* Happy New Year, guys! I'm glad I could get all this written and updated again so soon! ... *slaps self* CANADERP, I'M STARTING TO ACT LIKE YOU, WHEN YOU'RE NOT DERPING!**

_CanaDERP: *runs around on all fours* Rawr, I'm a Kumakiku! *growls and then runs off to read the chapter*_

**AG: Oh, no... *facepalms, goes to the end of the chapter***

* * *

"Are you serious? Vhy?!" Ludwig was in his room again; it had been two days since his incident with Felicia, and Valdemar was insisting upon keeping him locked up for a while.

"You know fully vell vhy zhis is necessary, Ludvig. I zhink I've managed to push it back, zhough, und it shouldn't be able to surface und take over for a vhile. I hope." Valdemar seemed completely unconcerned with Ludwig, who was sitting on his bed with one arm shackled to the wall with a magical seal to prevent the chain from breaking. He could tell that Ludwig's anger with him was building, but outwardly he showed no concern.

"Ludvig, zhis is also an excellent opportunity for you to practice keeping yourself calm, und not acting on your anger. If you vould actually put forzh an effort to reform your attitude, maybe zhis whole experience vould be easier on you!" His gaze shifted to the window, though he did not seem to really be looking outside.

"I know zhat look! Vhat are you zhinking about?" Ludwig glared at Valdemar, who still seemed to be ignoring his young friend. Trying to be patient, he waited for a reply from Valdemar for quite a while, when he was certain that the older man had no intention of answering his inquiry, his anger surfaced. "VHY DON'T YOU EVER TELL ME ANYZHING?!" He stood, trying to approach the man, but the chain on his wrist tugged him back. A growl could be heard from deep within his chest.

Valdemar chuckled. "Vizh zhe charm I put on zhat chain, it should hold up at least a monzh, as long as I don't remove it. You could get to know zhat girl vizhout zhe risk of hurting her." He looked at Ludwig out of the corner of his eye.

"Valdemar… Vhat zhe hell? Vhat are you zhinking?! You really vant to try und trust me to be around anybody… much less her?! After vhat I did? Who are you und vhat have you done vizh zhe real Valdemar?!" Ludwig's face was turning red.

"Now, now, Ludvig… You can't just stay in your room forever. You could use a little sociality, und my presence is not helping you much. Zhe only reason I'm around most of zhe time is to keep you from hurting anyone. As long as zhat chain holds up, you can be around anybody, as long as zhey aren't too close, heheheh…" He finally faced Ludwig now. "Und being around her vhile it can't take over might help to keep it down longer."

"Have you alvays been like zhis, or have you just been hiding zhis side of yourself from me all zhese years?" Again, a chuckle escaped the lips of the other man.

"I vas young vunce, too, you know. I may not be anymore, but I still remember vhat it vas like. Trust me on zhis, you'll be better off if you get to know zhat girl. Vhezher you und her hit it off is not zhe current issue. You have time left. I'll go get her now." He was already at the door when he finished his last sentence.

"I can't just do zhat! You're going to force her to sit und talk vith me? Don't you zhink zhat vill just make zhings vorse?!"

Again Valdemar didn't seem to care at all. "Maybe it vill, maybe it von't. Zhe only vay to be sure is to try it."

Ludwig was starting to get the idea that Valdemar was actually serious.

"You're really going to do it, aren't you…?" Ludwig's eyes widened with horror. "You can't! Please, no!" He struggled to find an excuse not to see her. "Vhat if… I… er... Umm… Damnit, I said no! Zhat's an order!" He was furious now, and quite serious; no longer thinking that what Valdemar said was just a cruel joke drove the point home.

"My, my, Ludvig… So demanding. But, really, vhat makes you zhink zhat I vas ever one of your staff to follow your orders? I am no servant of yours, nor am I your underling. You'll do vell to remember zhat, boy. Und, you'd do vell to remember vhy you've survived zhis long." His hand touched the handle on the door. "I could have very easily just let you alone und allowed you to destroy yourself. Don't forget zhat."

_You can get through it. This could be a good experience for you. Give it a chance; as long as that chain keeps you from being able to hurt her, what's the harm in talking to her for a while? _

_ "He's never outright defied me before…"_

_ Considering all that he's done for you, why are you so surprised? He's earned a little break from having to follow your every order. He knows what's best for you better than you do. Haha, I know that's hard for you to comprehend, but it's true. _

_ "I'm terrified… of a girl! I've never been scared of anything before…" _

_ What you're afraid of is change. You're so much like a child inside, but you never let anybody know it. Maybe that's why Valdemar is doing this. He knows you better than you think he does. _

_ "Maybe… I guess I'll just have to get through this. I don't think Valdemar will let it go. He's already gone, he'll probably come back… with her." _

_ Just keep calm. It'll be over before you know it. You might even enjoy the company. Make the best of it, because fretting about it the whole time will only make it much worse._

* * *

Shortly after her talk with Berwald, Felicia ran into—though not literally, as she had with Berwald—the young man with white hair and red eyes. He looked like he had just climbed out of bed; his hair was a disaster, and his clothes looked slept-in.

"Hey, you're zhe one I vas looking for! But of course, I alvays find vhat I'm looking for, because I'm zhat awesome!" The grin on his face gave Felicia the feeling that he acted like this on a regular basis.

"Um… you were looking for me? What for? I don't even know your name…" What could he want her for anyway? They'd never even been introduced. For some reason, he put his arm around her shoulder, as though it were the most natural thing to do.

"You've been looking for answers, huh? About Ludvig? Vell, I can tell you a few zhings… Kesesesese!" That strange laugh of his made him touching her all the more uncomfortable. She tried to push his arm off her shoulders, but he still persisted, while walking her up the stairs to her room.

"How did you know that I wanted to know more about Ludwig?" She looked into those creepy, red eyes, and felt a chill go down her spine. He didn't seem like a bad guy, but those eyes…

"Kesesese! Vord travels fast in zhis place! Und I know Eliza doesn't like to say anyzhing about Ludvig vizhout his permission, but I know him better. He may look all mean und scary on zhe outside, but he's just a big softy on zhe inside! KESESESESE!" Feli held back the urge to cover her ears when he laughed; it was such a sharp, loud noise.

"So you can actually answer the questions I asked Eliza?" She had changed her clothes shortly before running into Berwald earlier, and was now wearing an old outfit of Eliza's. Apparently, the young man took notice of it. "Um, you still haven't told me your name yet…" This seemed to snap him out of whatever weird daydream he was having.

"Oh, right. I'm Gilbert." His grin widened, and he put a hand to his shoulder, returning it with a little yellow bird in his hand. "Und zhis is Gilbird!"

"Where did he come from?! He wasn't on your shoulder before, was he?!" Following her initial reaction, Felicia had a sudden urge to pet the little bird. "He's really cute…" She reached out to pet it and it hopped onto her hand.

"Awh, he likes you! Don't be getting any ideas, zhough; he's still mine, no matter how much he likes you." Feli was too busy fawning over the little bird to listen to what Gilbert was saying now, however. She just smiled at Gilbird blissfully, while Gilbert kept trying to snap her out of her daze.

"Hey, girl, you vant to know about Ludvig or not? … Gilbird!" He snapped his fingers and the little yellow bird flew back onto his shoulder. At first Felicia was disappointed, but then she remembered Gilbert was going to tell her about Ludwig, and she smiled again.

"So you can tell me what this curse thing of his is all about? I want to try and help him…" She looked down thoughtfully.

_Ja, so do I. Heheh, that's where YOU come in. _He opened the door to her room and let her in first, still smiling. "Heh… Let's talk."

* * *

Gilbert started by telling Felicia all about how Ludwig had come to be cursed, by whom, and why. The way he told it took a lot longer than Feli had been expecting, though, since he kept stopping in the middle of talking about it to talk about what HE had been doing at that time, or something about himself that had nothing to do with anything she had asked about.

"Alright, I get it, but how can the curse be broken?"

"… Uh…" He knew very well how the curse was to be broken. But how could he just tell her that he was giving her this information about Ludwig so she could break the curse herself by falling in love with him? How was he supposed to break it to her that he was just doing this to play matchmaker with her and Ludwig? Now that he thought about it, it was rather awkward, and he should have expected her to ask that question from the beginning. But he couldn't answer it truthfully, or he'd have to tell her EVERYTHING.

"… I have no idea, honestly." Obviously that was a lie, but hopefully she wouldn't be able to see through it. "He never told me. He had a letter from zhe guy zhat cursed him, but he never showed it to me, so I have no idea. I just know vhat he's told me himself. I vish I could tell you, if I knew, I probably could have broken it myself by now!" For some reason, the lie came easily to him. He didn't feel entirely guilty for lying to her either.

Now that the awkward part of their conversation was out of the way, Gilbert started to tell her about Ludwig; his likes and dislikes, favorite things and all that.

_If she knows him a bit more personally, maybe she'll want to talk to him herself! Kesesese! I'm such an awesome genius!_

* * *

For the next two days, Felicia and Gilbert did almost nothing around the mansion; all they did was talk about Ludwig all day. Eliza found it surprising that Felicia and Gilbert got along so well. Roderich found it sickening that Gilbert was always in Felicia's room with her… alone. Thereafter voicing these thoughts to Eliza, Eliza beat Roderich for having such a dirty mind.

"Zhey're not doing anyzhing in zhere, you sick pervert! You know Gilbert is too naïve to even know vhat zhat is anyvay! Zhey've only known each ozher three days! How could you zhink anyzhing like zhat?!" She loomed over him; he was covered in bumps and bruises from her violent scolding, and he cowered against a wall.

"I'm sorry! I just don't zhink it's appropriate for a young voman und a young man to be in zhe same room togezher vizh zhe door closed!" He held his hands in front of his face, anticipating another blow.

"Oh, but you zhink it's ok for US to be in zhe same room togezher vizh zhe door closed?!" He cowered more now, shrinking under the weight of her harsh words.

"No! But it's different vizh us…" He knew he said the wrong thing instantly, because the room seemed to get darker. He dared to look up at her, and regretted it immediately.

"Please! Don't hit me again, Eliza! I meant nozhing by it, really!" He was on his knees, bowing his head. His words were a never-ending babble of noise; he was utterly incoherent as he begged her not to cause any more bodily harm. Eliza was quite terrifying when she was angry, because she _always_ carried out her threats.

"Maybe you should start zhinking before you open your mouth, huh?!" Someone knocked at the door right as Eliza was lifting her frying pan into the air for another blow. It was Valdemar, and he opened the door without waiting for anyone to say anything from inside.

"Vhat zhe holy hell is going on in here?! Elizabeta, ve don't need you putting Roderich out of commission already, so knock it off." He took the frying pan out of her hands, and helped Roderich off the floor with his other arm. "I vas vondering vhere zhis pan vent! So you've had it all zhis time? Ve can't just go into town to replace zhings anymore, you know zhat! Und zhe next nearest town is ten miles avay, zhat's at least an eight hour trip on foot zhere und back! Unless you vant to be zhe one to make zhat journey, I vould recommend you don't randomly destroy zhings by beating Roderich vith zhem."

Roderich looked up at him, his eyes full of joy. "You saved my life!"

"Oh, shut it." When they were out of Eliza's room, Valdemar dropped Roderich on the floor. "Felicia hasn't been in zhe kitchen at all today, und she's not in her room. Do you know vhere she is?" His tone was greyer than Roderich would have liked for the person that just saved him from the beating of a lifetime.

"All I know is zhat Felicia und Gilbert have been talking vizh each ozher a lot lately. Maybe zhey're in his room." The look in Valdemar's eyes made Roderich wish he was still stuck with Eliza.

"Vhy vould zhey be in his room?" Though his voice was calm, Roderich could tell he was raging on the inside; it would only be a matter of time before it came to the surface.

"Zhey've just been talking! Ever since zhe incident vizh Ludvig two days ago, zhose two have been togezher a lot." He knew if he didn't do something to change what Valdemar was thinking, he would be the one to get the repercussions of his anger.

"You know zhat Gilbert is too young und naïve to do ZHAT! Und zhey couldn't have gotten zhat close in such a short period of time, please don't kill me!" Eliza had violent tendencies, but when Valdemar was angry—which wasn't very often, and it took a lot to make him angry—Roderich knew that he should stay clear of him. However, at that moment, he didn't see any possible ways of escape, for he was injured, and Valdemar had magic that he could easily use to make him even more miserable.

"Just talking, hm? I'll see about zhat." He dropped the frying pan on Roderich's lap, and Roderich let out a yell. "Go put zhat avay."

Roderich nodded, his face twisted in pain, and hands holding the spot where the frying pan hit him. Valdemar walked down the hallway without a backwards glance to Roderich.

* * *

"Oh, und don't ever give him tips zhat might give him zhe idea he looks like crap, no matter how much he DOES look like crap, because he doesn't take zhat very vell at all." Gil was starting to think that he was smarter than most people thought he was; he'd never really thought about just how well he knew Ludwig until now.

Again, as all the times before, Felicia nodded, taking mental notes of everything he told her. Gilbert sighed, and leaned back in his chair.

"I don't know… I zhink zhat's all I can really say about him. I'm sure zhere's more, but I can't zhink of anyzhing else right now." He yawned; they had been talking all day, and most of the day yesterday.

"Thanks, Gil! I'm so glad that you've been here to tell me more about Ludwig; I don't think I could have figured all this out about him on my own. It's kind of nice to know a little bit about him! He definitely doesn't seem as bad as I made him out to be at first." Felicia stood up, and Gilbert followed suit.

"I'm glad I could help!" Before he knew it, Felicia had her arms wrapped around his waist, hugging him tightly. "Heheh, you're velcome, Feli!"

Just as Gilbert put his arms around Feli to return the friendly hug, the door opened, and Valdemar stood in the door threateningly.

"Oh, hey Valdemar! Vhat are you doing in… here?" The glare Valdemar shot at Gilbert shut his mouth immediately. That glare was enough to scare a man even taller and broader than Valdemar himself. "Um… Vhat's… wrong?"

Valdemar approached Gil with two quick strides, and pulled him away from Felicia, pushing him against the wall.

"Vhat in zhe hell do you zhink you're doing? I vasn't expecting zhis from you, Gilbert. She's zhe first female to be brought to us, und you're already getting all touchy-feely on her!" His eyes said murder. Felicia was pretty sure she understood what Valdemar was so mad about.

"Umm… Valdemar, right? Please don't be angry at Gil! He wasn't doing anything! _I_ hugged _him_; he wasn't trying to do anything, really!" She tugged at his arm, trying to pull him away from Gilbert. "Don't hurt him! He doesn't deserve it!"

Valdemar kept one hand on Gilbert's shirt collar, but he allowed his other hand to drop to his side. "You hugged him? Vhy?" His gaze was softer now, but he still seemed angry.

"He… He was just telling me some things about Ludwig, and I was grateful for it, so I hugged him! I was just about to leave…" Valdemar turned back to Gilbert.

"Is zhis right? You two have been togezher all day for two days und all you've been doing is talking about _Ludvig_? Zhat sounds suspicious to me. I know zhat Gilbert hardly ever talks about anyone ozher zhan himself." Gilbert never even dared to try and pry his eyes away from Valdemar's gaze.

"Yeah, until I got mad at him, mostly what he talked about was himself… Every two minutes, he'd talk about how awesome he was, and it got kind of annoying." Felicia was still trying to remember everything he'd said; she wanted to make sure that she could use it when she got the chance to talk to Ludwig herself.

Valdemar smirked. "Zhat is much more believable." He let go of Gilbert, who then slid down to the floor, and may have wet himself; it's hard to say for sure.

"I vant you to come vizh me." He was indicating Felicia, and he turned away, heading for the door. After taking a glance at Gilbert, Felicia followed after Valdemar.

_"I hope Gilbert's ok…" _

"Vell, since you've been learning about Ludvig from Gilbert, maybe you'd like a chance to talk to him for yourself now." He was walking toward the stairs to the third floor.

"What?! ...Something gives me the idea that I don't have a choice in the matter…"

"You're correct about zhat. But don't vorry, because since zhe ozher day, he's been quite calm. An incident like zhat von't occur again for a very long time. Hopefully not ever again, vizh your help." He stopped in front of the door to Ludwig's room, and turned to face her. "I vant you to know zhat Ludvig's behavior zhe ozher day is not how he acts on a daily basis. But zhe curse has left him… a bit disturbed. I have no doubt zhat Gilbert did not fail to mention zhat Ludvig is under a curse, hm?"

All Felicia could manage was a curt nod. Valdemar continued.

"I assure you zhat zhere is no risk of injury to you zhis time. Zhere is a magic seal on a chain zhat vill keep him from being able to get close to you, in case… it… resurfaces. Zhough it should not." Felicia had a look of curiosity and confusion on her face now.

"Gilbert mentioned 'it' too. What is 'it'?" Valdemar had been about to open the door, but he stopped and looked Felicia straight in the eyes.

"'It' is vhat ve call zhe beast zhat haunts Ludvig's thoughts. Zhat is vhat caused him to go berserk, und it provides for some very… unvanted behavior from him. …Anymore questions?"

"That sounds… terrible. Hey, Gil wouldn't tell me how Ludwig's curse is supposed to be broken. Do you know?" She smiled up at him, which made it all the harder for him to have to lie to her and tell her no.

"…I'm sorry, but Ludvig never told me how to break zhe curse. I don't know if he knows eizher." He opened the door, and motioned her in, closing the door behind her. "Ludvig vill be in zhat room on zhe left." Valdemar directed her to the double door to the left of the door they entered though.

Felicia swallowed back the lump in her throat. "…O…okay… I have to go in alone?"

"You vant me to tell him you're here? He already knows zhat I left to get you, but I'll tell him you're here anyvay." He went ahead of her and opened the door, disappearing into the dark room. Felicia heard someone strike a match, and then there was light in the room, but she didn't hear any voices. Valdemar emerged shortly after.

"Go on in." He let out a short laugh. "Don't vorry, he von't bite." He opened the door wider, and pushed her in gently, once again closing the door after she was fully in, but not joining her inside.

Ludwig was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor. She noticed he was tentatively scratching the back of his hand. He certainly looked like hell, she didn't recall him looking quite this bad the last time she saw him. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair was matted, and his clothes were torn up and wrinkled. His left wrist was shackled to the wall. Even after she had been standing there over a minute, he still didn't look up at her. She had a feeling Valdemar wasn't going to let her leave so soon, so she took a seat at a small table a few feet from the bed.

"Ludwig?" No response. Maybe he was afraid of losing control if he looked at her. After all, that's what had happened last time. She noticed there was a tray of food that had been left untouched on the table in front of her; it was still hot.

Felicia saw Ludwig move, as though he were about to get up off the bed, then he stopped. _I knew there was something a little different… He looks like he's starved. Why hasn't he eaten, then? _She took hold of the tray, stood, and set the tray on the end table right next to Ludwig. Surprised by the sudden movement in front of him, Ludwig glanced up just in time for Felicia to look down at him.

Ludwig felt his face redden when their eyes met. For some reason, he found it impossible to shift his gaze from hers. She was smiling at him, and his face felt hotter, and his heart beat faster. He pried his eyes away, and looked back down at the floor, but her feet weren't there. He felt his weight shift on the bed; she was sitting right next to him.

Felicia's smile became a frown of concern. "You should eat… You don't look well."

_She's worried about me…_ He glanced at the food. _I _am_ starving… But I can't eat in front of her… I don't need to make an ass of myself! _He nearly choked trying to talk. It hadn't been this hard to talk to her before, so why was it now?!

"Nein… I'm alright." His breath was shallow.

_Of course it's harder to talk to her now. You're back to your normal self; you don't have to worry about it taking over for a while. And how long has it been since you talked to a girl besides Elizabeta? _

"Alright… If you insist. But you better eat it when I leave—you shouldn't be starving yourself." And just like that, she was smiling again. He noticed that his heart almost went back to normal when he saw her smile, and he involuntarily smiled back, and nodded.

"At least you're not being forceful about it, like Valdemar…" He looked back down at the floor again. "I don't know how much Valdemar told you… but—" Suddenly her hand was on his, and she smiled at him again.

"If you don't want to talk about it, it's alright, I understand. You can talk when you're ready, ok?" Felicia began running her fingers through his… hair? Fur? Whatever it was, it looked terrible. "No offense, Luddy, but you look like you could use a bath…" His ear twitched.

"You've been talking to Gilbert, haven't you?" Ludwig crossed his arms over his chest, "He's zhe only one zhat calls me Luddy… Und I vouldn't recommend you make a habit of it." He was trying not to lean into her hand as she scratched out a knot behind his ear.

"Yeah, I talked to him…" She giggled, "He told me you're not as scary as you look, and that you're just a big softy inside." He shot a glare at her. Even though he hated how Gilbert talked about him behind his back, he couldn't stay mad at her for saying it, too. Ludwig was starting to get the feeling that what Gilbert said about him was true.

There was silence between the two for a while, and Felicia started to feel uncomfortable.

"So, you have any family here? Is Gil your brother? He sure acts like an annoying little brother to you." She could hear him growl softly, and she scooted away. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make you mad, I just wanted to know. …I haven't been here very long, but I miss my sister… and she thinks I'm dead. Everybody does." Ludwig felt his heart convulse. It was his fault that her family was grieving for her now. It was because he wanted to protect himself that six others' families still grieve every year, along with all their close friends…

Thinking about it, Ludwig was unconsciously digging his claws into his arm, and biting his lower lip. How many people had he caused such pain? He ignored the blood dripping down his arm, and played back memories in his head, starting with the night he had been cursed. That night was still very vivid and clear in his mind, and so were the several days afterward, when he saw the first sacrifice at his doorstep. His memories became more vague, then vivid again, as he tried to play through every week since that day. It seemed that his memories became more unclear the more he'd allowed the beast in him to control his actions, and then became vivid every year at the same time, when another sacrifice was brought to him. He knew every face, and which face belonged to which year, even if he never spoke to them or saw them again.

His most recent memories were the vaguest, he came to notice. The last week or so he could remember almost nothing, which was odd, and it worried him. Was he slowly losing himself? Whatever Valdemar had done to him two days before had helped to clear his mind, but how long would it last before the beast inside him came back? Ludwig had completely forgotten that Felicia was sitting right next to him, and didn't notice when she started trying to talk to him. His jaw was clenched tight, and he was still clawing into his arm. Felicia's voice was just a droning noise in one ear; nothing was coherent except his own thoughts, which weren't completely coherent either.

"Ludwig?! Ludwig, stop doing that! You're bleeding!" She tugged at his arm, and slowly his consciousness returned and he heard Feli's voice. "What's wrong?! Ludwig, you're scaring me, please stop!" He turned to look at her, and he had no idea how long it had been since she had started talking about her family to begin with, but she was no longer smiling. Tears were streaming down her face, and Ludwig was afraid that he'd blacked out and the beast had taken over. Had he hurt her?  
"Vhat happened? Vhat's wrong?!" Felicia was pointing to his arm, which was by this time soaked in blood, as was his hand. The delayed feeling of pain rushed through him instantly, and he took hold of his arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Despite the pain, he smiled at Felicia to try and reassure her. He was feeling a little light-headed. How long had he been bleeding? His leg was covered in blood that had dripped from his arm.

Before he knew what was happening, Feli tore a long strip of fabric from the bottom of her ankle-length dress and began wrapping his arm in layer after layer of the makeshift bandages. Every new layer was quickly soaked through with blood, and Felicia's dress went from ankle-length to knee-length in a matter of minutes.

Ludwig watched wordlessly as Felicia carefully tended to his self-inflicted wound. She looked a little sick, but anyone in her situation would; seeing that much blood is enough to make most people feel quite nauseous. Regardless of how she was feeling, however, Felicia continued to meticulously wrap strip after strip of cloth over his arm, until she could no longer see the blood seeping through.

Though the whole event was quite grim, Felicia quickly perked up. "Well, now you _really_ need a bath!" She was smiling again, and laughing, and it made Ludwig feel better overall. He looked down at his arm, and then smiled at her. It was a sad smile, though, for he still thought about all the families that were mourning over people that weren't dead. He tried to put those thoughts out of his mind for the time being.

"Zhank you." Ludwig could do nothing but stare at his arm.

Felicia looked at her torn-up dress. "I hope Eliza doesn't want this back…" Ludwig looked up.

"You borrowed zhat from Eliza?"

"Yeah… Is that a big deal?"

"…You really better hope she doesn't vant it back… She can be really violent…"

"I'm sure if I explained what happened she would understand!" Feli wore a blissful smile. Ludwig grimaced.

"Ja, she'll understand… Zhen instead of taking it out on you, she'll blame me for it und take it out on me."

"She won't if I have anything to say about it! You don't deserve to be treated badly." Her confident beam was enough to reassure Ludwig that Eliza would not take her rage out on him. She put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry about Elizabeta, alright?"

There was a knock, and Valdemar entered promptly.

"Still talking, hm? I zhought he'd annoy you und you'd have left by now…" His eyes were on Felicia when he entered the room, and he noticed her dress was half gone up to the knee, leaving nothing but the slip underneath. From the door, he couldn't see Ludwig's injured arm, and his immediate thought of the events that transpired while he was gone was not pleasant. He was at Ludwig's throat in a matter of seconds, demanding to know what he had done to Felicia.

"I-it's not vhat you zhink, really, Valdemar!" Ludwig seemed genuinely afraid of Valdemar at that moment. Felicia wasn't putting up with it though, and grabbed Valdemar's shoulder.

"He's hurt, can't you see that?! He didn't do anything to me, he just hurt himself and I had to use something to wrap up his arm, that's all!" It suddenly occurred to her what he had been implying when he became angry with Ludwig, and she slapped him. "How could you think that anything like that had been going on?! You're sick! And you were thinking something was going on when you walked in when I was hugging Gilbert, too!" Another slap, then silence.

Ludwig was astounded that she'd not only talk to Valdemar that way, but also SLAP him. It took real guts to stand up to Valdemar, and she did it like it was nothing.

Valdemar stared at Felicia for a while, and at that moment took the time to examine Ludwig's injury. He felt rather stupid for falsely accusing both Ludwig and Gilbert of the same thing in the same day. It was awkward for him, but he took it like a man and tried to stop acting like an overly protective father.

Felicia tried to be patient, but after Valdemar looked at Ludwig's arm and did nothing about it, she started pushing him out of the room. "Come on, I think we both need to leave." She flashed a quick smile at Ludwig and waved before giving Valdemar one last shove out the door, and closed it behind her.

Still trying to get over the shock of almost getting beaten to a pulp by Valdemar, Ludwig sat staring at the door in silence for several minutes. How long had they been talking? He noticed the food she'd moved to the end table beside his bed. It was still warm, so it couldn't have been that long. But Ludwig knew fully well that things weren't always what they seemed, especially when Valdemar was around.

* * *

_CanaDERP: *sits on pile of dictionaries, listening to music* *sees AG* A GEEEE! *tackles* LISTEN! *pops headphones on AG's head and plays "Das Tier in Mir"*_

**AG: Ugh! Not right now, CanaDERP! *switches headphones with earbuds, leaves one earbud in while going over the chapter* It seems that CanaDERP derped something up and I didn't realize it until now. Everybody's thoughts are supposed to be in quotations, the only "dialogue", as it were, that was not supposed to be in quotations are Ludwig's conscience, which talks to him and about him in the second person, and the beast, which is represented in bold. Apparently, I didn't make this clear, and when she edited it, she took out all the quotations for everybody's thoughts. *grabs CanaDERP by the hair and makes her bow to the readers* Now apologize for your derp.**

_CanaDERP: *weeps piteously and begs for forgiveness* Hurrplexinogrofklinepsikinz! ;A; _

**AG: *sighs* I guess that's it... Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm going to be working on like, three other fanfics as well, so I might not get anything updated for a while, sorry.**

****_CanaDERP: Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! *leaps out window and runs off to TARDIS* I'm goin' back to 2012~! :3_


End file.
